In Outlook the Reply to and Forward Buttons are Grayed Out

A: If the reply and forward buttons are grayed out in Microsoft Outlook (2002 – XP, 2003, 2007) then you most likely need to activate Microsoft Office. After a short time most of the functionality in Microsoft Office is disabled until you activate the product. Microsoft Office 2000 and 97 did not have this requirement. Most Microsoft products after 2000 require activation to prevent violations of the Microsoft licensing agreements. If you can’t activate the product then you should contact the person or company that installed or sold you the software.

You can read more about Microsoft Product Activation at the MPA main page