How to Pin Emails in Outlook (2026)
Pinning keeps a message visible at the top of your inbox no matter how many new emails arrive. It’s a simple feature, but where it lives — and whether it exists at all — depends on which version of Outlook you’re using. The new Outlook desktop app, Outlook on the web, and the iOS and Android apps all support pinning. Classic Outlook for Windows does not, but there are workarounds.
Here’s how to pin emails in every version, plus the differences between pinning, flagging, and categorizing.
1. New Outlook Desktop & Outlook on the Web
Pinning works the same way in the new Outlook for Windows, the new Outlook for Mac, and Outlook on the web. The pin lives on the message in your mailbox, so it syncs across these clients automatically.
Pin a message
- Open new Outlook or go to outlook.office.com and sign in.
- In the message list, hover over the email you want to pin.
- Click the pin icon that appears on the right side of the message preview (next to the date or quick actions).
- The message jumps to the top of your inbox under a Pinned section header.
You can also right-click any message in the list and select Pin from the context menu.
Unpin a message
- Locate the message in the Pinned section at the top of your inbox.
- Hover over it — the pin icon now appears filled to show it’s pinned.
- Click the pin icon to unpin. The message returns to its chronological position.
Right-click and Unpin also works.
Note: Pinning only works on emails in the Inbox folder. You can’t pin messages in subfolders, Sent Items, or Archive.
2. Outlook for iOS and Android
The Outlook mobile app supports pinning for Microsoft 365 and Outlook.com accounts. If you’re using Outlook with a Gmail, Yahoo, or IMAP account, pinning won’t be available.
Pin a message on mobile
- Open the Outlook app on your phone.
- Go to your Inbox.
- Swipe right on the message you want to pin (default swipe action) or long-press it.
- Tap Pin when it appears in the action menu.
- The message moves to a Pinned section at the top of your inbox.
If your swipe gestures don’t include Pin, change them in Settings > Swipe Options > set Swipe Right or Swipe Left to Pin.
Unpin on mobile
- Find the pinned message at the top of your inbox.
- Swipe right or long-press it.
- Tap Unpin.
Sync caveat
Pinning syncs through your Microsoft 365 mailbox, which means a message pinned on the web should appear pinned in the mobile app and vice versa. In practice, sync can lag by a minute or two, and pinned status does not always carry over to third-party clients (Apple Mail, Gmail iOS app) connected to the same Microsoft 365 account.
3. Classic Outlook for Windows (No Pinning)
Classic Outlook for Windows — the older Win32 desktop app — does not have a native pin feature in 2026. Microsoft has not backported pinning, and it likely never will, as the new Outlook is the long-term direction.
Workaround 1: Color Categories
Categories let you tag messages and sort your inbox by tag.
- Right-click the message you want to keep visible.
- Select Categorize > All Categories (or pick an existing one).
- Create or rename a category like Pinned and assign a color.
- Click OK.
- To see all your “pinned” messages together, click the Categories column header to sort, or set View > Arrange By > Categories.
Workaround 2: Flag with a reminder
Flagging puts the message in the To-Do bar and reminders pane, which gives you a persistent view even if the message scrolls out of the inbox.
- Right-click the message and select Follow Up > Today (or another date).
- The message appears flagged in your inbox and in the To-Do bar at the right of the Outlook window.
This is not the same as pinning — flags are about follow-up tasks, while pins are about keeping a message visible. But it’s the closest classic-Outlook equivalent.
Workaround 3: Quick Steps
If you have several emails you want to keep front-of-mind, create a Quick Step that moves them to a “Read Later” folder, then pin that folder to your favorites. See How to use Quick Steps in Outlook for setup.
4. Pin vs Flag vs Categorize — What’s the Difference?
These three features look similar but solve different problems.
| Feature | What it does | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Pin | Keeps a message visible at the top of the inbox | Pinned section at top of Inbox |
| Flag | Marks the message for follow-up, with optional due date | To-Do bar, Tasks, reminders |
| Categorize | Tags the message with a color/label for sorting | Category column, filtered views |
Use Pin when you need a message to stay visible while you act on something else (e.g., a confirmation number you’ll reference later today). Use Flag when there’s a specific action you owe and you want it on a task list. Use Categorize when you want to group related emails (project names, clients, priorities) regardless of inbox position.
You can combine them. A message can be pinned, flagged, and categorized at the same time.
5. What Pinning Doesn’t Do
A few things to know before you rely on pins as your inbox system:
- No hard limit, but a practical one. Microsoft does not document a maximum number of pins per inbox, but the Pinned section was designed for a handful of messages — typically 3 to 10. If you pin 30 messages, the section becomes its own scrollable inbox and the feature loses its point.
- Pins don’t sync to all clients. A message pinned in Outlook on the web will show as pinned in the new Outlook desktop and Outlook mobile, but third-party email clients connecting to your Microsoft 365 mailbox over IMAP or Exchange ActiveSync may ignore the pinned flag entirely.
- No pinning in classic Outlook. As of 2026, Microsoft has not added pinning to classic Outlook for Windows.
- No keyboard shortcut. There’s no built-in shortcut to pin a message — you have to use the mouse or right-click menu.
- Pinning doesn’t unread or mark a message. It just changes its position. Read/unread status, importance, and flags are independent.
6. Pinning in Shared and Delegated Mailboxes
If you have access to a shared mailbox (a team inbox, for example), pins are stored on the mailbox itself — not on your personal account. That means:
- Anyone with access to the shared mailbox sees the same pinned messages.
- If a teammate unpins something, it’s unpinned for everyone.
For delegated mailboxes (where someone gives you “delegate access” to their personal inbox), the same rule applies: pins are on the mailbox, not on the delegate.
If you want a personal “pinned” view of someone else’s mailbox, use Categories with a personal category name instead — categories are per-mailbox but you can scope them with naming conventions.
Quick Reference
| Outlook version | Pin supported? | How to pin |
|---|---|---|
| New Outlook for Windows | Yes | Hover > pin icon, or right-click > Pin |
| New Outlook for Mac | Yes | Hover > pin icon, or right-click > Pin |
| Outlook on the web | Yes | Hover > pin icon, or right-click > Pin |
| Outlook for iOS | Yes (M365/Outlook.com only) | Swipe right or long-press > Pin |
| Outlook for Android | Yes (M365/Outlook.com only) | Swipe right or long-press > Pin |
| Classic Outlook for Windows | No | Use Categories or Flags as workaround |
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More on Outlook: How to flag emails in Outlook · How to categorize emails in Outlook · How to snooze emails in Outlook · How to archive emails in Outlook · How to use Quick Steps in Outlook · How to turn on Focused Inbox in Outlook · How to create folders in Outlook · How to mark email as unread in Outlook
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