Can I make Outlook toast notifications smaller in Windows 10?

Question

I disabled Windows 10 notifications originally, but I find that I miss the Outlook 'new mail' notifications that I used back when I ran Windows 7, so I have re-enabled notifications for Outlook only. However, the Windows 10 notifications are gargantuan compared to Windows 7 notifications (I'm assuming this is program-agnostic, not specific to Outlook, but maybe I'm wrong):

Windows 10 notification:

I'd much rather have the notification be closer to the size of the red box outlined above, similar to how big the Windows 7 notifications were:

Alternatively, can I at least hide the 'action row' (the "Delete", "Flag", and "Dismiss" actions) from the notification, somehow? I don't ever use the flag functionality of Outlook, rarely want to delete something without reading the full e-mail, and think two buttons to dismiss the notification is rather stupid/poor UI design.

• I've checked in Windows 10 Settings in Notifications & Actions section, but that only turns them off/on
• I've checked the Ease of Access section, but that only lets me set the duration of the notification.
• I've checked in Outlook's Settings in the Mail section, but that is only a full toggle.
• I've even checked in the Outlook-specific Notification settings view, but that doesn't let me resize the notification window either... just shows more toggles between binary or trinary states.

Is this customization possible somehow? I'm open to solutions that include Outlook settings changes, Windows Settings changes, Registry edits, PowerShell scripts, or even 3rd party utilities like Start10 (which I use, but doesn't seem to cover the notification aspect of the Windows 10 start menu/task bar).

I'm running Windows 10 Enterprise version 21H2 and Outlook v2202 from Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, if that matters.

Answer 1

This is apparently possible via the Windows Compatibility Troubleshooter per a 2020 TechRepublic article I found (hinted at and eventually confirmed by Ramhound in the comments as well), titled How to enable old-style Outlook notifications in Windows 10 by Mark W. Kaelin.

The relevant steps are:

1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\<CurrentOfficeVersion>\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\<CurrentOfficeVersion>\
2. Right-click OUTLOOK.EXE and select "Troubleshoot Compatibility"
3. Choose the "Troubleshoot program" option from the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter
4. Select "The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won't install or run now" from the next page and then select "Next"
5. Select "Windows 7" from the list of Operating Systems and then select "Next"
6. Test the application (a required step for the Troubleshooter)
7. Select "Yes, save these settings for this program"

I say "apparently possible" because in my environment the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter is disabled via group policy due to a CVE, so I am unable to confirm this works, personally.