Recovering Deleted Emails in Outlook

Recovering Deleted Emails in Outlook

Accidentally deleting an important email in Outlook can be stressful, but fortunately, recovering deleted emails is straightforward. Outlook provides several methods to restore emails, whether they were recently deleted or removed from the Deleted Items folder.

Recovering from the Deleted Items Folder

When you delete an email, it first moves to the Deleted Items folder. If you realize the email is still needed, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook and navigate to your Deleted Items folder, usually found in your folder list on the left pane.
2. Find the email you want to recover.
3. Right-click the email and select Move > Other Folder, then choose the folder where you’d like to restore the email, such as your Inbox.

Emails in the Deleted Items folder remain for a set period, typically 30 days, before being permanently deleted. You can adjust this timeframe in Outlook’s settings.

Recovering Permanently Deleted Emails

If you’ve emptied your Deleted Items folder or used Shift+Delete to bypass it, don’t worry—there’s still a chance to recover your emails through the Recoverable Items folder. This hidden folder stores emails after they’re permanently deleted for a limited time, depending on your organization’s retention policies.

1. Go to the Deleted Items folder in Outlook.
2. At the top, you should see the option Recover Deleted Items from Server (in the Home tab for desktop clients or via the web app).
3. A new window will display emails that are recoverable.
4. Select the emails you wish to recover and click Restore Selected Items.

The recovered emails will be restored to your Deleted Items folder. From there, you can move them to your Inbox or another folder as needed.

Use of PowerShell (For Administrators)

For larger organizations using Microsoft 365, administrators can use PowerShell to restore emails that have been hard-deleted by running specific commands. This is useful if retention policies are involved or if a user’s mailbox requires deeper recovery methods.

Outlook Data Files (.PST and .OST)

If you use an Outlook data file (.PST or .OST), you can recover deleted emails if you’ve backed up your data. Restore from backups by importing the necessary .PST file into Outlook via the Import/Export Wizard.

Preventing Future Email Loss

To avoid email loss in the future, consider the following practices:

• Enable Outlook’s AutoArchive feature, which automatically backs up and deletes older emails.
• Use email rules to categorize and file important messages to keep your Inbox organized.
• Regularly back up your Outlook data files to an external source.