Where Do Deleted Emails From Outlook Go?
Chances are that any email you delete is still kept, hidden from normal view, for at least a few weeks and often much longer. To recover it, find the email in question. Deleted emails are found in these locations:
The Deleted Items folder (in Outlook or your email account). Under Recoverable Items (with Exchange and Microsoft 365 accounts). In a backup location (on your computer, in the cloud, or with your email provider).
Recover an Email You Just Deleted in Outlook
If you change your mind right after you delete a message you want to keep, undoing the damage and recovering the email is particularly easy. To undo a deleted message that has been moved to the trash, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or ⌘+Z. (Mac). The message returns to its original folder as long as no other action (such as moving or flagging another message) occurred after the message was deleted. If you performed other actions after you deleted the message, undo the series of actions until you have successfully undone the deletion and restored the desired email. If you want to restore more than one message, go to the Deleted Items folder and recover the email.
Recover an Email From Your Outlook Deleted Items Folder
Most deleted emails in Outlook are moved to the Deleted Items folder. This is also the place where you are most likely to restore emails. To restore messages that are in the Deleted Items folder:
Recover an Email Purged From an Exchange Account’s Deleted Items Folder in Outlook for Windows
Emails are removed from the Deleted Items folder after a certain period set by the account administrator, when you empty the Deleted Items folder, or if you permanently delete a message in the Deleted Items folder. For most Exchange accounts, messages that are purged from the Deleted Items folder may be recovered for a period of time. This time period depends on how the Exchange administrator set up your account. This also applies to emails that were permanently deleted. To restore messages that have been removed from the Deleted Items folder in Outlook for Windows:
Recover an Email Purged From an Exchange Account’s Deleted Items Folder Using the Outlook Web App
Outlook for Mac does not offer an interface to recover messages purged from an Exchange account’s Deleted Items folder. Instead, use the web interface to the account. To restore an email that is no longer in an Exchange account’s Deleted Items folder using Outlook Online and Outlook Web App:
Restore Emails From a Backup Location
If you’re unable to restore an email, you have other options. Check the following places for a backup copy of your email account:
Your email service: You may be able to restore messages from a backup copy either by yourself or by contacting support.Your computer: Look for automatic backup copies of downloaded or cached messages.Your other email account: If you forward messages from one of your addresses to another, look for a copy at the forwarding account.
To restore emails from email service backups (other than Outlook Online and Outlook 365), examine these options:
Fastmail: Restore from backup. Gmail via a paid Google Workspace subscription: Restore data. Yahoo! Mail: Recover lost or deleted emails.
To restore messages that have been saved using backup software and services:
Outlook: Restore an archived PST file. Gmvault: Restore a Gmail backup. IMAPSize: Restore incremental IMAP backups. One.com: Use backup and restore. OpenSRS: Restore deleted mail. macOS and OS X Time Machine: Back up your data. UpSafe: Gmail backup and restoration.
If your Outlook data is not backed up and you lost your PST file, you may be able to recover the PST file using free data recovery software. Before returning to any previous stage of your email archive, save your Outlook’s current state and messages. Otherwise, you could lose messages you received in the time between and end up having to restore these.
