Outlook 2024 Classic: NVDA not announcing "High Priority" status via QAT shortcut (Alt + 1)
Mister Kayne
Hello NVDA Users Group,
I am experiencing a regression in how NVDA reports message priority changes in Outlook.
Environment:
• OS: Windows 11
• Outlook: Outlook 2024 Classic
• NVDA Version: 2025.3.3 (2025.3.3.54605)
The Issue:
I have customized my Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) to include the "High Priority" command, assigned to the Alt + 1 position. While the shortcut successfully toggles the high priority flag on the message, NVDA has stopped announcing the state change (e.g., it no longer says "High Priority" or "Importance: High" when the shortcut is pressed). This used to work reliably in previous versions of Outlook/NVDA.
The visual indicator changes correctly, but there is no speech feedback.
Has anyone else encountered this with Outlook 2024 Classic? I am wondering if this is a known issue with the way the new Classic ribbon handles QAT updates, or if there is a specific "Object Presentation" or "UIA" setting I should toggle in NVDA to force it to report this status change again.
Any advice or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.
Warm regards,
Mister Kayne
"It's a bitter, sweet symphony this life…"
Author: The Somebody, Nobody, Anybody & Everybody Blog!
Mail: writ...@mister-kayne.com
Sent from Outlook® for Windows 11
Quentin Christensen
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Mister Kayne
Hi Quentin,
I can certainly clarify that for you. The command is called "High Importance" (sometimes labeled as "High Priority" depending on the specific view).
In Outlook 2024 Classic, you don't actually need to dig into the full Options menu to set this up. You can do it directly from the main window using the keyboard:
To add High Importance to your QAT:
1. Navigate to the QAT: In the main Outlook window, press the Alt key to activate the ribbon.
2. Move to the Customization Menu: Press Shift + Tab repeatedly. You will cycle past your account details and the search bar until you reach the Customize Quick Access Toolbar button.
3. Expand the Menu: Press the Space bar to expand the list of available actions.
4. Select the Command: Arrow down through the list to find High Importance and press the Space bar to check it.
5. Assigning Alt + 1: The shortcut is determined by the order in the list. To ensure it is Alt + 1, "High Importance" needs to be the first active item on your QAT.
Important Note: Even though you can set this up from the main window, the command is context-specific. It will only be active and functional when you are composing, replying, or forwarding a mail. If you try to use Alt + 1 while just browsing your Inbox, the command will be unavailable.
Quentin Christensen
Office 365 (64-bit) Version: 16.0.19725.20152
Gene Asner
run NVDA with add-ons disabled and see what happens.
Gene
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 11, 2026 8:31 AM
> *To:* nvda-...@nvaccess.org
> *Subject:* Re: [NVDA] Outlook 2024 Classic: NVDA not announcing
>
> Mail: writ...@mister-kayne.com <mailto:writ...@mister-kayne.com>
> Sent from Outlook® for Windows 11
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> the rules set out in this document while participating in this group.
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Mister Kayne
Thank you for suggesting that approach.
I followed your advice and tried running NVDA with all add-ons disabled, but unfortunately, it did not resolve the issue. NVDA still fails to announce the selected state of the message priority when I use the shortcut.
It seems there might be something specific within my Outlook profile or system configuration that is preventing this from being reported correctly. I plan to look into the profile settings this weekend to see if I can pinpoint what's blocking the announcement.
I appreciate the help in narrowing this down!
Mister Kayne
Hi Quentin,
Thank you so much for investigating this and for checking across different versions, including the alpha snapshot. It is very helpful to know that it is working on your end, as that confirms the issue is likely local to my environment.
I will need until this weekend to sit down and gather the full details of my complete setup to share with you. To give you an update on what I’ve tried so far: following Gene's suggestion, I tested this with NVDA add-ons disabled, but unfortunately, it didn't provide a fix—the announcement still isn't triggering.
My next step is to dive into the Outlook application profile. I'm going to experiment with toggling various settings on and off to see if a specific configuration is causing the conflict. Once I have some time this weekend to troubleshoot properly, I will get back to the group with any findings.
I really appreciate the support!
Matthew Horspool
Hi Quentin,
Piggybacking onto this thread a bit: do you know what is causing NVDA to announce the high importance status when high importance is switched on? For example, is it a UIA notification or something that NVDA implements internally?
I am wondering whether the problem is as simple as Mr Kayne’s Outlook not sending the UIA notification – or, perhaps, NVDA not receiving the UIA notifications that Outlook is sending.
Thanks,
Matthew
Mister Kayne
Hi Matthew and Quentin,
I wanted to provide a collective update on the troubleshooting for the Outlook High Importance announcement issue.
As of today, I have deleted my Outlook configuration profile, closed the application, and restarted NVDA with all add-ons disabled to ensure a clean testing environment. Unfortunately, I am still having no luck with the situation—NVDA remains silent when using the Alt+1 QAT shortcut to mark a message as High Importance.
For your reference, here are my current system and setup details:
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (64-Bit, Version: 10.0.26200 Build 26200)
• Outlook: Microsoft® Outlook® LTSC MSO (Version 2408 Build 16.0.17932.20670) 64-bit
• Screen Reader: NVDA 2025.3.3
Please let me know if these build details help narrow down why the behavior is inconsistent, or if there are further logs you would like me to provide.
Quentin Christensen
Mister Kayne
Hi Quentin,
I’ve also found that another way to set high priority is using the shortcut Alt + H, H, but this too does not announce that the priority has changed to High Importance. It seems the silence is consistent regardless of the method I use to toggle it.
Regarding the QAT, it’s a productivity hack I’ve relied on for over 20 years to quickly set priority, attach files, and forward messages. It’s second nature at this point, so I suppose I’ll just have to live with this state for now.
I did also test with NVDA set to use UIA "always" or "only when necessary," but no luck. Deleting the Outlook profile on NVDA, starting NVDA without add-ons all troubleshooting
steps failed.
The version difference you mentioned is a very strong possibility. Being on an older LTSC version of Outlook might simply mean the fix or behavior present in your newer version hasn't reached my build yet.
Thanks for sticking with me on this troubleshooting!
Matthew Horspool
HI Quentin,
The message list isn’t the OP’s problem, I don’t think.
The steps are, roughly:
- Start a new message.
- Put High Importance on your Quick Access Toolbar (position 1 in the OP’s case).
- Press your Quick Access Toolbar shortcut for High Importance (ALT+1 in the OP’s case).
Expected: NVDA says: high importance.
Actual: NVDA says nothing.
NVDA is my secondary screen reader, so I’ve just ran those steps with JAWS and I can see that “High importance on” is sent by Outlook as a UIA notification here. Likewise, if I press the keystroke again, I get “High importance off” as a UIA notification.
My guess is that NVDA will speak the notification if it receives it, which suggests that the OP’s Outlook is not sending the notification.
Mister Kayne, how long has NVDA been telling you about high importance when you turn it on and off? Likewise, how long has it not been telling you about it? Has anything changed, e.g. you got a new computer, which might have caused the behaviour to change?
Matthew
joseph....@gmail.com
Hi,
Yes, “high importance” message is reported as a UIA notification event (this is on Outlook classic 365 version 16.0.19822.20044).
Cheers,
Joseph
Mister Kayne
Hi Matthew,
It is very difficult to recall the exact sequence of events or the specific point when the behavior changed. I did upgrade my Office to 2024 and then later upgraded my hardware to meet Windows 11 requirements. As for NVDA, I always have it set to check for updates automatically, so it stays current.
Thank you for your help with this. I believe you are right—my guess is that NVDA would speak the notification if it received it, which suggests that my version of Outlook is simply not sending the UIA notification when the toggle is triggered via the QAT.
Mister Kayne
Hi Joseph,
Thank you for confirming that! That is incredibly helpful information.
It appears we’ve found the root cause. My version is Outlook LTSC 2024 (Build 16.0.17932.20700), which is significantly older than your Microsoft 365 (Build 16.0.19822.20044). It seems that while the 365 version has the refined UIA notification events for the QAT, this LTSC build is either missing them entirely or they haven't been backported.
This confirms Matthew's suspicion that my version of Outlook simply isn't sending the notification event for NVDA to catch. I'll likely need to look into migrating to the 365 track to resolve this and access newer features.
I really appreciate you taking the time to check your version for me.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/007901dcb308%24fc97cf70%24f5c76e50%24%40gmail.com.
Sean Randall
Mister Kayne
Hi Sean,
Thank you for that workflow. I appreciate the suggestion, but honestly, I am a bit disappointed that what used to work earlier is now broken, especially after updating both Outlook and Windows. It feels quite silly, but I guess one has to live with such technical limitations sometimes.
I also tried the Outlook Enhancement add-on with my version of Outlook, but it does not help much. Not that I do not appreciate the effort behind the add-on, but for my specific use case, I just do not find it very handy.
Thank you for your support on this, much appreciated.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/D4D76FFE-B565-4EA1-8548-BD66A60CB15A%40seanrandall.me.
Justin coffin
Your LTSC 2024 build, however, appears not to send that UIA event at all. That would explain why NVDA stays silent no matter which method you use—QAT shortcut, ribbon command, or Alt+H, H. NVDA isn’t ignoring anything; it simply never receives the event it needs in order to speak the change.
This also lines up with the fact that:
•
Add-ons don’t affect the behavior.
•
Resetting your Outlook profile didn’t change anything.
•
UIA mode in NVDA doesn’t make a difference.
•
Other users on newer Outlook builds can reproduce the expected announcement.
So the behavior isn’t a regression in NVDA—it’s a limitation (or missing implementation) in the LTSC branch of Outlook. LTSC versions often lag behind Microsoft 365 in UIA improvements, and features like these sometimes never get backported.
In short: NVDA will announce the priority change if Outlook sends the UIA event, but your LTSC build simply isn’t generating it. Upgrading to a newer Microsoft 365 build is probably the only way to restore the old behavior.