The outlook 2007 panning cursor can get “accidentally” enabled.  When it does, It’s annoying at best and it interferes with copy / paste.  Phil Wiffen has an excellent summary on how to turn it off and restore Outlook to the original cursor behavior, which by the way will also allow selecting text for copy / paste.

Outlook 2007 How To Disable The Hand Cursor

What The Panning Hand Looks Like

The panning hand shows up in the preview pane and over text when a message is opened.  The normal cursor (the text selector) doesn’t show up until you select forward or reply for the email.

How The Panning Hand Gets Enabled

The Outlook preview pane shows a small hand icon in the upper right corner of the preview pane.

It’s easy to overlook, and it’s easy to accidentally click if your trying to scroll in the preview pane.  Once it’s enabled, It’s not so obvious how it was turned on or how to turn it off.

How To Turn the Panning Cursor Off

There are basically two options.

1. On the Outlook preview pane, in the upper right, select the cursor again.

2. Use Phil’s notes to turn the Outlook Panning Hand Off.