In a table, items are in a grid of rows and columns. Each row contains one item. Details about items are in columns. To control the level of detail that appears, add or remove columns, filter items by criteria you specify, sort items, group items, or change the arrangement (arrangement: A predefined combination of grouped and sorted messages in table view.).

The table view type can display messages using either single-line layout or multi-line layout. You can also have Outlook automatically determine which layout to use based on the width of the message list.

Multi-line layout normally displays four fields (From, Subject, Date, and Icon). If the message list in multi-line layout is not wide enough to display all the column headings (column heading: The horizontal bar at the top of one column in a table. There are multiple column headings in the column heading row.) about an item (item: An item is the basic element that holds information in Outlook (similar to a file in other programs). Items include e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, posted items, and documents.), pausing on the item will display a ScreenTip (ScreenTips: Notes that appear on the screen to provide information about a toolbar button, tracked change, or comment, or to display a footnote or endnote. ScreenTips also display the text that will appear if you choose to insert a date or AutoText entry.) containing all the information, or you can specify that additional fields appear on additional lines, when you pause on an item.

A table view type is best for viewing messages, tasks (task: A personal or work-related duty or errand that you want to track through completion.), and details about any other item.

In a timeline view, items appear as icons arranged in chronological order from left to right on a time scale.

A timeline view type is best for viewing journal entries (journal entry: An item in the Journal folder that acts as a shortcut to an activity that has been recorded. You can distinguish a journal entry from other items by the clock that appears in the lower-left corner of the icon.) and any items you want to plot in relation to time.

In a Day/Week/Month view, items are arranged on the calendar, similar to a day planner in paper form. You can view items in blocks of time for days, weeks, or for a month.

A Day/Week/Month view type is best for viewing appointments, meetings, and events.

In a card view, items appear as individual cards, similar to an address card file. To control the level of detail that appears, you can add or remove fields in an item, or filter items by criteria you specify. Click the letters to the right of a card to move quickly to a card in another letter section.

A card view type is best for viewing contacts and any items you want to find quickly in alphabetical order.

In an icon view, items are represented by individual icons arranged on an invisible grid.

An icon view is best for viewing notes and items as large icons, small icons, or in a list of icons. To see details about icons, use a table view type.

An arrangement is a predefined pairing of a grouping and a sort order. There are thirteen predefined standard arrangements (Attachments, Categories, Conversation, Date, E-mail Account, Flag, Folder, From, Importance, Size, Subject, To, and Type), and they are available only in a table view type (view type: The basic structure of a view. When you create a view, you must first select one of five view types (table, timeline, day/week/month, card, or icon) to determine how information will be arranged and formatted in your new view.). The groups are fully expanded by default, with the exception of the Conversation arrangement, which is collapsed by default. You can not create an arrangement, but you can create a custom view with customized grouping and sorting. Additional information on each individual arrangement is available in Outlook Help.

Arrangements can easily be viewed or applied to a folder, by clicking Arrange By on the View menu.

Sorting is a way of arranging items (item: An item is the basic element that holds information in Outlook (similar to a file in other programs). Items include e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, posted items, and documents.) in ascending or descending order. You can sort items in any view (view: Views give you different ways to look at the same information in a folder by putting it in different arrangements and formats. There are standard views for each folder. You can also create custom views.), based on one field (field: An element of a table that contains a specific item of information, such as a last name. A Title field might contain Mr. or Ms. Databases such as Microsoft SQL Server refer to fields as columns.) or multiple fields, with the exception of the time-based views such as Day/Week/Month and timeline (timeline: A view type that displays items from left to right on a time scale. Use this view to display items in relation to time. Timeline is the default view type for Journal.). For example, you can sort tasks (task: A personal or work-related duty or errand that you want to track through completion.) by due date to see the order you need to work on them in. You can sort a list of e-mail messages alphabetically by sender and then by subject. (The abbreviations RE and FW in the Subject box are ignored when you sort messages alphabetically by subject.)

If an arrangement has been applied to a table view type (view type: The basic structure of a view. When you create a view, you must first select one of five view types (table, timeline, day/week/month, card, or icon) to determine how information will be arranged and formatted in your new view.), you can still apply a custom sort. If you are displaying your message list in single-line layout, clicking a column heading (column heading: The horizontal bar at the top of one column in a table. There are multiple column headings in the column heading row.) will quickly change the sort order. In multi-line view, clicking the column heading will apply an arrangement.

A group is a set of items (item: An item is the basic element that holds information in Outlook (similar to a file in other programs). Items include e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, posted items, and documents.) with something in common, such as e-mail messages from the same sender or tasks (task: A personal or work-related duty or errand that you want to track through completion.) with the same due date. Group items to see related items together. You can expand or collapse the group headings to display or hide the items they contain.

Expand/collapse buttons on group headings

If an arrangement (arrangement: A predefined combination of grouped and sorted messages in table view.) has been applied to a table view type (view type: The basic structure of a view. When you create a view, you must first select one of five view types (table, timeline, day/week/month, card, or icon) to determine how information will be arranged and formatted in your new view.), you can still apply a custom grouping by turning off Show in Groups on the View menu (Arrange By submenu), and then creating the grouping you want.

You can only group items that are in a view (view: Views give you different ways to look at the same information in a folder by putting it in different arrangements and formats. There are standard views for each folder. You can also create custom views.) based on a table (table: A view type that displays a list of items (rows) and their attributes (columns). Use this view to display details about items. Table is the default view type for Inbox and Tasks.) or a timeline (timeline: A view type that displays items from left to right on a time scale. Use this view to display items in relation to time. Timeline is the default view type for Journal.) view type (view type: The basic structure of a view. When you create a view, you must first select one of five view types (table, timeline, day/week/month, card, or icon) to determine how information will be arranged and formatted in your new view.). When you group items by a field (field: An element of a table that contains a specific item of information, such as a last name. A Title field might contain Mr. or Ms. Databases such as Microsoft SQL Server refer to fields as columns.) that can contain more than one entry, such as the Categories field, items may appear more than once in the table or timeline. For example, if you group by the Categories field and an item has two categories, such as Business and Ideas, the item is listed under both the Business group heading and the Ideas group heading. Although you see the item more than once, it exists as only one item. Any changes you make to one instance of the item are stored with all instances of the item.

A view filter is an easy way to view only those items or files that meet conditions you specify. For example, you can filter all items with "Joanna Fuller" in the From box to see only items from Joanna Fuller. All of the other items are still in the folder and can be seen again by removing the view filter.

When a view filter is applied to a selected folder, the status bar (status bar: A horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen that displays information about the current condition of the program, such as the status of items in the window, the progress of the current task, or information about the selected item.) displays the words Filter Applied in the lower-left corner of the screen. Multiple Filters Applied displayed indicates that both a synchronization filter and a view filter have been applied. A synchronization filter allow you to choose which items are downloaded or kept in your Offline Folder files (.ost) (Offline Folder file: The file on your hard disk that contains offline folders. The offline folder file has an .ost extension. You can create it automatically when you set up Outlook or when you first make a folder available offline.).