The reading pane is a preview - it does not open the email. Perhaps if you were a bit clearer on what you see happening as opposed to what you want to happen, someone can help.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Anonymous asked:

| Hi. I was wondering if there is a way to stop Outlook 2007 from
| automatically opening e-mails?
|
| I like the Reading Pane, but I don't want it to automatically open a
| new e-mail message (or automatically show my old e-mail message).
|
| For example, it would be nice to highlight which new e-mail I want
| shown to me, or click spacebar, etc. instead of it automatically
| opening them, because when Outlook 2007 is downloading my e-mail AND
| trying to show me an e-mail at the same time, Outlook sort-of freezes
| until it finishes downloading my new e-mail.
|
| Thanks in advance!