Summary: When an email gets deleted from Outlook, you may find it in the ‘Deleted Items’ folder. But, how would you restore the emails if the ‘Deleted Items’ folder is emptied? Here, we’ve shared Microsoft-suggested and our in-house tested methods to recover deleted emails in Outlook on Windows 10/11.
Contents
- Easy Ways to Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook
- Microsoft-Suggested Methods
- Our In-House DIY Solution to Recover Deleted Outlook Emails
- FAQ
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most used email clients, with a user base of approximately 400 million. Apart from sending and receiving emails, it offers several other features, such as calendaring, task managing, contact managing, note-taking, journal logging, and web browsing.
It has been observed that sometimes Outlook users mistakenly delete important emails. We’ve encountered several users’ queries about mistakenly deleting Outlook emails. Refer to the following user queries:
I accidentally deleted all emails from the Inbox folder and am trying to recover them from the original folder from the Deleted Items folder. I see an option to recover in the Deleted Items folder, but this doesn’t move back emails to the Inbox (original) folder. Could someone please help?
“I accidentally permanently deleted several important emails. Is there any way I can contact Outlook support and talk to a person to see if I can recover them?”
Irrespective of ‘when’ and ‘how’ you ended up deleting Outlook emails, the DIY methods shared in this blog will help you restore them easily. Let’s proceed without any further ado.
Easy Ways to Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook
First, try out the Microsoft-suggested methods. If you’re not able to get back your emails using them, use our in-house DIY fixes.
Microsoft-Suggested Methods
Before you proceed with the below methods, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
- The emails can be recovered from Deleted Items folder within 30 days of deletion.
- Emails can still be recovered from the Recoverable Items folder within 30 days.
- If deleted emails reach the Junk Email folder, you can recover them within 10 days.
A. Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook: Online
Method 1: Check ‘Deleted Items’ Folder
When you mistakenly delete any of your Outlook emails, they reach the ‘Deleted Items’ or ‘Junk Email’ folder. However, you can easily restore them using the following steps:
- Open your Outlook email account and navigate to the ‘Deleted Items’ folder in the left pane.
- Open the ‘Deleted Items’ folder and locate the emails you want to restore.
- Right-click on the email, click Move, and choose the folder to restore the email.
Method 2: Move Emails from Deleted Items Folder
You can also select the emails you want to retrieve and move them to the desired folder with the following steps:
- Go to Deleted Items folder and select the email you want to restore.
- Click the ‘Move’ option on the Menu bar.
- Next, click Choose folder. It will show the folder options. You can choose the folder to which you want to move the email.
- Finally, click Save to recover deleted email in Outlook. Your email will be restored to the chosen location.
Note: You can also select all the emails using CTRL + A from this folder and drag and drop them to the desired folder.
Method 3: Recover Deleted Emails from Recoverable Items Folder in Outlook
If you can’t find the emails in Deleted Items folder, look for them in the Recoverable Items folder. It is a hidden folder. Emails are stored in this folder when,
- Emails are removed from Deleted Items folder.
- The Deleted Items folder is already empty.
- Emails are deleted permanently from Inbox or another folder using the Shift + Del keys.
To recover emails from the Recoverable Items folder, follow the given steps:
- First, ensure that you’re connected to the mail server.
- Next, go to Deleted Items folder.
- Now, click ‘Recover Deleted Items from Server’, given on the left top corner adjacent to the New Items option.
- A window will pop up on the screen showing deleted emails with the date and time.
- Choose Restore Selected Items and then click OK to proceed.
Note: If you don’t see the ‘Deleted Items’ folder but instead see the ‘Trash’ folder, it means that your account doesn’t support recovering email that’s not available in Deleted Items folder.
B. Recover Deleted Outlook Items: Offline
Method 1: Use the ‘Update Folder’ Option
There may be a situation when you mistakenly end up removing your Outlook file offline. Refer to the following query for example:
“I have accidentally deleted my Outlook data file (.pst) file, which was saved on my Desktop. Unfortunately, it’s not in the trash and I think it’s permanently gone. Can anyone help as all my work emails have been there for the last three years and I need them?”
If you delete the offline Outlook Data File located at drive: C \Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook, don’t worry! Most data remains on the server and gets synced automatically when you get online. Furthermore, if you’re using an Outlook account with Exchange Server in Cached Exchange Mode, you can try the following steps for recovery:
- Open Outlook account and navigate to Send/Receive.
- Now, click Update Folder.
- You’d be able to restore deleted items using this method.
Note: If you’ve already tried using Update Folder and still can’t get back your files, it means your offline items were no longer on your Exchange Server and can’t be synced to the local file.
Our In-House DIY Solution to Recover Deleted Outlook Emails
Method 1: Use Data Recovery Software
If the above method fails to perform offline Outlook items recovery, you can proceed with our in-house solution, i.e., Stellar Data Recovery for Windows. It is a DIY data recovery tool that can recover deleted emails, documents, files, folders, photos, videos, and more. Follow the given steps:
- Download and launch Stellar Data Recovery for Windows.
- Then, on the first screen ‘Select What to Recover,’ choose Emails and click Next.
- Choose folder/drive from where you deleted Outlook offline items and click Scan on the next prompt. (Usually, the Outlook data files are stored in C: drive). After that, the scanning process will start.
- Once the scanning is done, you will see the results on the screen.
- You can narrow it down to Outlook files showing in the result and click Recover.
- Next, Browse the location where you want to save the recoverable items and finally hit the Start Saving button.
Always choose a different location or an external storage drive to save the recoverable files. It will prevent data overwriting.
So, these are some tried-and-tested methods to recover deleted emails from Outlook on Windows 10/11. You can try the solutions as per the situation and restore your emails quickly. Let us know if you have any queries or suggestions in the comments section below.
FAQ
1. Can I recover permanently deleted emails from Outlook?
Usually, the emails are stored on the server. Hence, you can try recovering through Deleted Items or Recoverable Items folder. However, if these folders are empty or you deleted the emails with the Shift + Del keys, the recovery may not be feasible.
2. How do I restore a deleted Outlook account?
If you have deleted or removed your email account from Outlook, you won’t be able to restore it. Instead, you’ll need to reconfigure the account in Outlook to access it. Learn more…
About The Author
Mansi Verma
Mansi Verma is a Senior Technology Writer at Stellar®. She is a Tech enthusiast, holding over 8 years of experience in Data Recovery, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and the Robotics technology domain. She loves researching and providing DIY solutions to solve Windows technical issues. In her spare time, she likes reading novels, and poetry. She also enjoys Travelling, Rafting, Trekking, etc.
I tried and tested all these methods to recover deleted emails from Outlook on Windows 10/11. Thanks for sharing such an wonderful article
Reply
Leave a comment
FAQs
How to Recover Deleted Outlook Emails on Windows 10/11? | Stellar? ›
In some cases, you can even recover items after the Deleted Items folder is emptied. You can also recover a deleted folder (with all of its messages) if it's still in your Deleted Items folder. Unfortunately, you can't recover a folder that's been permanently deleted.
Is it possible to recover permanently deleted emails from Outlook? ›In some cases, you can even recover items after the Deleted Items folder is emptied. You can also recover a deleted folder (with all of its messages) if it's still in your Deleted Items folder. Unfortunately, you can't recover a folder that's been permanently deleted.
How do I get my Outlook emails back after deleting them? ›- In the left pane, select the Deleted Items folder.
- At the top of the message list, select Recover items deleted from this folder.
- Select the items you want to recover, and select Restore. Notes: You can only select all if all messages are visible.
Google maintains a backup of all your emails for about 30 days, after which the email is permanently deleted from the server. However, it is still possible to recover permanently deleted emails from Gmail using third-party tools such as Gmail Message Recovery Tool, Outlook, and AirDroid Gmail Tracker.
How do I retrieve an email that I accidentally deleted? ›- On your Android phone or tablet, open the Gmail app .
- At the top left, tap Menu .
- Tap Trash.
- Tap the letter or photo next to the messages you want to recover.
- At the top right, tap More .
- Tap Move to.
- Choose where you want to move the messages to, like your inbox.
- Open the Outlook Application.
- Click “Deleted Items” in the inbox you want to recover.
- Click “Recover items recently removed from this folder”
- Select the email(s) that you would like to restore and click “OK” or “Select all” to select all emails and then click “OK” to restore them.
Are deleted emails permanently gone? No, deleted emails aren't permanently gone. For most email providers, deleted emails first go to the trash folder for up to 30 days. During this period, you can recover emails at any time to the Inbox.
How to recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook Windows 10? ›- Make sure you are online and connected to the mail server.
- In Outlook, go to your email folder list, and then select Deleted Items. ...
- In the Folder menu, select Recover Deleted Items. ...
- Select the items that you want to recover, select Restore Selected Items, and then select OK.
Causes of Outlook Automatically Deleting Emails
Outlook may automatically delete your emails if you have set the program to do so via the message rules. With the Outlook rule settings, you can set the app to automatically move specific emails to the Deleted Items folder or some other folder.
If you recently noticed you were missing some of your older emails, and you did not move, delete, or archive them, the likely cause is a default setting in Outlook that limits how long emails will be kept locally. Luckily, this is a setting that you can access at any time, and is quick and easy to modify.
How do I find missing emails in Outlook? ›
Check the Deleted Items folder
> Move to folder > Inbox. If you don't see the message in the Deleted Items folder, the message might have been removed but is still recoverable. In Deleted Items, above the message list, select Recover items deleted from this folder.
What if I can't find my email in the Trash folder? If the email is not in your Bin or Trash folder, it's very likely that you have either emptied the folder previously, and so deleting everything in the process, or you have manually hit "Delete Forever" on the email itself.
How do you undo what was deleted? ›The Ctrl+Z Function to Undo Accidental Deleted Files.
Do deleted emails disappear Outlook? ›Messages removed from the Deleted Items folder are recoverable for 30 days. You can't recover messages removed the Deleted Items folder in Outlook for iOS or Outlook for Android apps or a mobile browser. To do this, please use a computer. Messages deleted from a child's account can't be recovered.
Does Outlook delete old emails in deleted folder? ›Items that you delete are moved to the Deleted Items or Trash folders, but aren't permanently deleted until those folders are emptied. Over time, the contents of the Deleted Items folder can consume a large amount of space on your computer or email server storage quota.