Display Preferences
The Settings → Display panel lets you customize how Opterius Mail looks and behaves. All display settings are saved to the user_settings table in the database, keyed to your email address. This means your preferences persist across devices and browsers — log in from any device and your settings are restored automatically.
Opening Display Settings
- Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right of the screen, or press
Shift+,(the comma key). - Select Display from the settings menu.
Message List Density
Controls how much vertical space each message row occupies in the message list:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Compact | Smaller row height, more messages visible at once. Suitable for high-density use. |
| Comfortable | Standard row height with more breathing room. Easier to read on large monitors. |
| Spacious | Maximum row height with sender avatar, snippet, and date all clearly separated. |
Choose Compact if you prefer to see as many messages as possible without scrolling. Choose Comfortable or Spacious if you prefer a more readable layout.
Message Preview Pane
Controls where (or whether) the message reading pane appears:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Below | Message list on top, reading pane below. Good for wide monitors in landscape. |
| Right | Message list on the left, reading pane on the right. Good for ultrawide monitors. |
| Off | No preview pane. Clicking a message opens it in a full-page view. |
The Right layout gives the most reading space on widescreen monitors. The Below layout is most similar to Outlook's default. Off is preferred by users who want full focus on the message list.
Messages Per Page
Sets how many messages are loaded per page in the message list. Options:
- 25 (default)
- 50
- 100
- All (loads all messages in the folder — use with caution on large folders)
Lower values load faster. Higher values reduce the need to paginate. Using All on a folder with thousands of messages can slow loading significantly — it is intended for small folders.
Default Sort Order
Controls how messages are sorted when you open a folder:
| Sort option | Description |
|---|---|
| Date (newest first) | Most recent messages appear at the top. Default. |
| Date (oldest first) | Oldest messages appear at the top. |
| Subject (A-Z) | Sorted alphabetically by subject line. |
| Sender (A-Z) | Sorted alphabetically by sender name/address. |
You can also sort temporarily by clicking the column headers in the message list. The default sort preference kicks in when you navigate to a new folder.
Time Zone
Sets the time zone used for displaying message dates and times throughout the interface.
By default, Opterius Mail uses the time zone reported by your browser (Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone). If this auto-detection is incorrect, or if you want dates to display in a specific time zone regardless of where you are physically located, select a time zone from the dropdown.
Time zones are listed as IANA names (e.g. America/New_York, Europe/London, Asia/Tokyo).
Date Format
Controls how message dates are displayed:
| Format option | Example |
|---|---|
| Relative | "2 hours ago", "Yesterday", "3 days ago" |
| Short absolute | "12 Apr 2026" |
| Long absolute | "Sunday, 12 April 2026" |
| Date and time | "12 Apr 2026, 14:32" |
Relative format is the default and is intuitive for recent messages. Date and time is useful if you need to know the exact time a message arrived.
Dark Mode / Light Mode
If the active template supports it, a Theme toggle appears in Display settings:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Light | Light background, dark text. |
| Dark | Dark background, light text. |
| System | Follows your operating system's dark/light mode preference. |
The default default template supports all three. Custom templates may support only some modes. If you switch to a custom template that does not support dark mode, the theme option is hidden and the template's default appearance is used.
Saving Settings
Click Save preferences after making changes. A green "Saved" confirmation appears. Settings take effect immediately — you do not need to reload the page.
Because settings are stored server-side in the user_settings table, they are available on any device you use to log in. There is no per-device or per-browser storage involved.