Change how Outlook displays the number of messages in a mail folder (2003)

By default, the number in parentheses next to the Inbox folder is the number of unread items in that particular folder (the same is true for the other folders in the Folder List). You can, however, change this to the number of total items contained in that folder.

To do so, right-click on the folder you'd like to change and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. On the General tab, select the Show Total Number Of Items option button and click OK. Note that this change only affects the specific folder. The unread messages number and the total number of messages number are displayed in different colors to distinguish the two, since you can set either option for individual folders.