Skip to main content
lindag75862733
Participant
January 8, 2019
Answered

Outlook Preview PDF Zoom

  • January 8, 2019
  • 6 replies
  • 38798 views

I have recently been finding that when I use Outlook 2016 and attempt to preview the pdf attachment, the preview zoom must be at 200% or better. This makes previewing the attachment a waste of time. I have adjusted zoom setting in Outlook and Adobe Acrobat Pro. I have also adjusted window page options in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Sometimes the problem is fixed temporarily but not stably fixed for long. I have recently adjusted in Outlook a Display Setting to Optimize for Compatibility as opposed to Optimize for best appearance.

I am wondering if this is where my problem lies. The zoom problem does not appear when previewing Word documents. It is only in the Adobe Acrobat pdf preview.

Further, like many other Community users, trying to find the link to post a question is definitely an unpleasant and time consuming experience.

Correct answer lindag75862733

Thank you for your reply. However, I was able to find out that the issue in case anyone else has this complaint is that Outlook has a new Display Settings tab (at the lower right corner). It offers two options. The first is to Optimize for best appearance and the second is to Optimize for compatibility. It offers:

"Today many modern displays are what we call "High DPI" displays - which means they're capable of very high screen resolutions. However there are still a lot of older, low DPI, monitors still in use. Normally this doesn't cause any issues, but if you have a multi-monitor setup (such as a high DPI laptop connecting to a low-DPI external monitor via a docking station) you may see some awkward display issues when you move Office apps back and forth between the displays.

To address these issues we've introduced a feature in Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows that dynamically scales the application window to adjust for when you move Office apps back and forth between high and low DPI monitors. This feature is on, by default, in Office
2016 and Office 2019 on Windows 10.

Note: The improvements in this update are available to Office 365 subscribers, as well as Office 2016 and Office 2019 Click-to-Run installations.

Display issues with add-ins

In a few unusual cases, you may see odd display behavior with certain third-party add-ins like COM add-ins. You may also run into problems if you open documents that have embedded controls (for example, macros, buttons or ActiveX controls). In those cases, you may see some of the following issues.

  • The add-in draws in
    the wrong location or draws as an incorrect size.
  • UI elements in the
    add-in, such as buttons and labels, appear in the wrong location.
  • Images
    in the add-in appear too small, too large, or appear in the wrong location. (emphasis added)."

6 replies

Participant
November 13, 2024

If your version of Outlook is missing the Display Settings as previously mentioned in the thread, you'll need to follow outlooks instructions: "The attachment previewer also requires that the User Interface options in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are configured with the same setting. The options for this setting are Optimize for best appearance and Optimize for compatibility. " If one or more of the listed programs has a different setting than outlook's display setting the display setting button maybe missing. Go to Excel, Word, Powerpoint and make sure all three have the same setting, then the display setting button in Outlook will appear. Hope this helps. 

Participant
March 20, 2025

This has been a problem for more than 5 years. The fix use to be to "Optimise for compatibilty" but Microsoft recently removed this setting. It's unblieveable that Adobe has not fixed this problem. Looking through the various support communities both Adobe and Microsoft over the past 5 years, each time the issue is raised they claim never to have heard of it before. I guess that's the problem with third party addins, neither Adobe nor Microsoft want to fix whatever is causing the problem.

Participant
October 18, 2024

Had this issue on my Surface Pro 9 O365 outlook, it was driving me mad. Dispay Settings as others have said fixed this, thank you to the person who suggested that fix!!

Participant
July 9, 2024

work like a charm went you put adobe or pdf xchange on automatic zoom by default

Participant
October 19, 2022

The display settings worked for me. Thanks! 

Participant
October 22, 2021

I thasnk you for your reply oin the display settings that is exactly the cause of my issue. 

Meenakshi Negi
Community Manager
Community Manager
February 6, 2019

Hi Lindag,

Sorry for the delay in response.

As you have mentioned above, you preview the PDF attachment in outlook.

In this case, there is nothing that can be done from our end.

If you are previewing the PDF in Adobe application by double-clicking on the document in the email, you may set the default zoom settings in the Acrobat preferences.

Launch the Adobe Acrobat and go to Edit > Preferences > Page Display.

Set the zoom value under the "Default Layout and Zoom". Click Ok at the bottom of the preference window to save the changes.

Then relaunch the application once.

Now if you double click an email attachment, it will open with the default zoom.

If there is any preset added on the PDF, then it will overrule the default value set in the preferences and open with the preset zoom value.

Hope the information helps.

Let us know if you have any questions or need any help.

Regards,

Meenakshi

lindag75862733
lindag75862733AuthorCorrect answer
Participant
February 6, 2019

Thank you for your reply. However, I was able to find out that the issue in case anyone else has this complaint is that Outlook has a new Display Settings tab (at the lower right corner). It offers two options. The first is to Optimize for best appearance and the second is to Optimize for compatibility. It offers:

"Today many modern displays are what we call "High DPI" displays - which means they're capable of very high screen resolutions. However there are still a lot of older, low DPI, monitors still in use. Normally this doesn't cause any issues, but if you have a multi-monitor setup (such as a high DPI laptop connecting to a low-DPI external monitor via a docking station) you may see some awkward display issues when you move Office apps back and forth between the displays.

To address these issues we've introduced a feature in Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows that dynamically scales the application window to adjust for when you move Office apps back and forth between high and low DPI monitors. This feature is on, by default, in Office
2016 and Office 2019 on Windows 10.

Note: The improvements in this update are available to Office 365 subscribers, as well as Office 2016 and Office 2019 Click-to-Run installations.

Display issues with add-ins

In a few unusual cases, you may see odd display behavior with certain third-party add-ins like COM add-ins. You may also run into problems if you open documents that have embedded controls (for example, macros, buttons or ActiveX controls). In those cases, you may see some of the following issues.

  • The add-in draws in
    the wrong location or draws as an incorrect size.
  • UI elements in the
    add-in, such as buttons and labels, appear in the wrong location.
  • Images
    in the add-in appear too small, too large, or appear in the wrong location. (emphasis added)."
Community Manager
March 5, 2019

Thank you for sharing your findings, Lindag!

It will surely be helpful for others who may be experiencing similar issues.

-Tariq Dar