How do I Get Headers to Apply in a New Outlook Classic Profile?

Hi Dan McDermott,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

What you’re seeing usually happens when the Ameritech mailbox is only attached as a PST data file in the new profile. A PST holds mail items, but it doesn’t recreate the original account + delivery store setup, so Classic Outlook may hide list-view options (like Single) for those folders.

In your profile New Profile 5 May 26, add the Ameritech address as a real email account (POP/IMAP) in Outlook (not just opening/importing the PST). Restart Outlook after it finishes adding.

Then, open the Ameritech Inbox > View > Change View > Single (or Preview) and go to View > View Settings > Columns to add/show your headers. If you want the same layout on Sent/Archive, use Apply Current View to Other Mail Folders.

If the view is still stuck, close Outlook and run outlook.exe /cleanviews, then repeat the steps above.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.

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The behavior difference comes from how data and accounts are configured in the new profile, not from the header feature itself.

Key points from the available information:

1. In classic Outlook, what can be done with views (including headers) depends on how the account and its data file are attached to the profile.
2. A profile is a combination of:
   • One or more email accounts (Hotmail, Ameritech, etc.)
   • One or more data files (.pst or server‑based mailbox)
   • The delivery location for each account (server mailbox vs. .pst)
3. When a new profile is created, Outlook does not automatically recreate the same account/delivery structure as the old profile just by opening .pst files. The .pst files are only data containers; they do not re‑establish the original account configuration.

What this typically means in practice:

• In the original profile, the Ameritech account was likely configured as a full mail account in the profile, with its folders (Inbox, Sent Items, Archive) tied to that account’s delivery store. In that configuration, the standard view options (including applying headers and using specific view types like Single view) are available.
• In the new profile, if only the .pst for Ameritech was opened or attached (without re‑adding the Ameritech account itself as an email account in the profile), Outlook may be treating those folders as secondary data folders rather than the primary delivery store for an account. In that state, some view options and header behaviors can differ from what is available on the primary mailbox (for example, the Hotmail account that is fully configured in the profile).

Because of this, the Hotmail account in the new profile behaves as expected (full account with normal views and headers), while the Ameritech folders from the imported/attached .pst do not expose the same view options (such as the Single view choice) and do not let headers be applied in the same way.

To align behavior with the original profile, the Ameritech account must be added to the new profile as an actual email account, and its delivery location configured appropriately. Simply importing or opening the .pst does not replicate the original account‑plus‑store relationship that controls how views and headers work.

References:

• Overview of Outlook email profiles
• Export emails, contacts, and calendar items to Outlook using a .pst file
• How do I recover my old email messages, my contacts and everything else I had in Outlook? - Microsoft Q&A