When you go to your Outlook inbox, you can tell pretty quickly which email messages are new by the bold font. However, did you know that you can customize the way new email messages look? You can change the appearance of your new email messages with just a few clicks of the old mouse.

Start by going to your Inbox. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, go to the View menu, point to Arrange By and then point to Current View. Click on Customize Current View and the Customize View: Messages dialog box will open. Click the Automatic Formatting button. In Automatic Formatting, you will see a bunch of check boxes showing Rules for This View. Under Properties of Selected Rule, you will see Unread Messages in the Name box, although it is likely grayed out. Click the Font button below it. In the Font dialog box, you can change the font, the font style, the font size, color and even add an underline.

If you are using Outlook 2010, start at the Inbox and go to the View tab. Click View Settings in the Current View group to open the Advanced View Settings dialog. Click the Conditional Formatting button. Here is where you will see those check boxes for all of the rules. Click the Font button under Unread Messages and choose the font options you want to apply.

In case you wondered, this only affects the message headings as they appear in your Inbox, not the way the messages themselves or any outgoing emails look. If you change your mind and want the standard bold font back, it's as easy as a click. In Outlook 2003 or 2007, go back to the Customize View: Messages dialog and click the Reset Current View button. In Outlook 2010, click View Settings and click the Reset Current View button.