Make folders in Hotmail appear on the left side pane (show all folders)
HotmailUniversity
Your email folders should automatically appear on the left of the screen when you are inside your Windows Live Hotmail account: this is always the case when you check your emails from a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox, but is also typically the case when you use an email program like Windows Live Mail to check your Hotmail account. In this tutorial, we will show you how to show all hidden email folders in Hotmail in case you cannot see them on the left pane.
Show all hidden email folders in your Hotmail account
First, if needed, start by signing into your Hotmail, and then go to your inbox the way you usually do - here's one way, using the dropdown menu at the top of the screen:
Once Hotmail has loaded your inbox and email messages, look on the left side of the screen (inside the web page in your browser). If you do not see any "words" like Inbox or Folders, this means that you have accidentally resized the folder pane, and that your folders are partially hidden, as shown on the screenshot below:
If this is the case, just drag the right border of the folder pane and move it (by dragging it) to the right until you can see all hidden folder names; notice that Hotmail will make your cursor (mouse pointer) appear as a double-headed arrow once you are ready to start dragging to show all hidden folders on the screen.
Expand to show all hidden Hotmail email folders
Another common reason for which your Hotmail folders may be invisible is if they have been (voluntarily or accidentally) collapsed and hidden from view. If this is the case, the folders and left pane in your Windows Live account will look just like this:
In that screenshot, you can tell that only the word "Folders" appears, because the folders and subfolders are collapsed and hidden from view.
To display the collapsed folders and subfolders in your Hotmail account, just click on the "disclosure triangle" as shown below to expand and show all your folders:
As soon as you do, Hotmail will show all hidden email folders and subfolders!