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How to Recover Permanently Deleted Emails from Outlook

Today, more and more people rely on Outlook for managing both their business and personal email communications. To keep your Inbox organized, it’s essential to regularly delete emails that are no longer needed. The batch-delete feature is quick to clean up your Inbox.

However, there’s a risk of inadvertently deleting important emails in the process. Thus, this article aims to guide you on how to recover deleted emails in Outlook under various circumstances.

Part 1: How to Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook Deleted Items Folder

Just like other email providers, Outlook automatically removes deleted emails from a trash folder called Deleted Items. Within 30 days, you can find deleted emails in Outlook directly. This way is available to both free and paid accounts.

Step 1. Sign in to your account in Outlook, and go to the Deleted Items folder from the left sidebar.

Tips: If you cannot find the lost emails in Outlook’s Deleted Items folder, the Recoverable Items folder is another place to get back your emails.

Recover From Deleted Items Folder

Step 2. Here you can view all recently deleted emails. You can scroll up and down to find the desired emails, and click each of them to view the messages and attachments.

Step 3. Select the desired emails, hit the Move menu on the top ribbon, and select Choose Folder. Or right-click on one of the selected emails, choose Move, and select Other Folder. Choose Inbox or a proper folder, and click the Move button.

Tips: Deleted emails will be kept for only 30 days in the Deleted Items folder.

Part 2: How to Recover Deleted Emails from Outlook Server

Can you recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook 365? The answer is yes. Your emails will be deleted permanently if you delete them from the Deleted Items folder, empty the Deleted Items folder, or press the Shift key while deleting them in Inbox. However, Outlook 365 will sync your emails to the servers. That gives you a chance to recover lost emails in Outlook.

Step 1. Make sure to connect your computer to a good internet connection, sign in to your Outlook 365 account, and connect to the mail server.

Step 2. Enter the email folder list, and choose Deleted Items in Outlook.

Step 3. Go to the Home tab on the top ribbon, and click Recover Deleted Items From Server in the Actions pane.

Recover Deleted Outlook Emails From Server

Step 4. Select the lost Outlook emails on the list, select Restore Selected Items at the bottom left corner, and click the OK button.

Recover Emails From The Recover Deleted Ttems

If this way is not available, contact your admin. They might be able to use the eDiscovery Center to find your deleted emails.

Tips: To recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook 2013, you need to click the Folder tab and then press Recover Deleted Items. Recover Deleted Emails From Server In Outlook 2013

Part 3: How to Retrieve Deleted Outlook Emails from Backup

If you have already created a backup of your Outlook mailbox using a PST file, you can restore deleted emails directly from that backup. This method is especially useful when the message is no longer available in the Deleted Items folder or the Recoverable Items folder. Follow these steps to retrieve your lost emails from a PST backup:

Step 1. Open Outlook and click File in the top-left corner.

Step 2. Click Open & Export - Import/Export.

Step 3. Press Import from another program or file and select PST.

Part 4: Ultimate Way to Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook

If you have tried the methods above but cannot find deleted emails in Outlook, you will need a powerful email recovery application, such as Apeaksoft Data Recovery. When you delete an email from Outlook on your computer, it won’t be removed from your hard disk. The space is marked empty. Before being overwritten by new data, the software can help you find the lost emails.

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  • Preview deleted emails before recovery.
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How to Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook

Step 1. Scan Emails

Install the best email recovery software on your computer and launch it. Under the Hard Drive Recovery tab, choose where your deleted emails might be stored. Then, press the Start Scan button.

Choose Start Scan

Step 2. Locate and preview deleted emails

Turn to the Type List tab and select the Email option. You will be presented with the preview window. Here you can search for lost emails on the list by date, keywords, and more.

Type List

Step 3. Retrieve deleted emails

At last, select the deleted Outlook emails that you want to retrieve, and click the Recover All button at the bottom right corner. When prompted, select a proper directory to save the emails, and click OK to start retrieving your Outlook emails. When it finishes, the folder will pop up automatically.

Tips: Similar steps can also be applied when you want to recover deleted AOL email messages.

Part 5: FAQs about Recovering Deleted Emails in Outlook

Can I retrieve a deleted draft email in Outlook?

It depends. If you want to recover a draft email in the Draft folder, you can follow the methods above. If the draft was never saved (Outlook crashed or computer power outage), it is impossible to recover. Therefore, it is significant to turn on the Auto-save option by Settings > Outlook Options > Mail.

Why Outlook emails are deleted automatically?

If Outlook deletes your emails, there might be several reasons. It is possible that you set the automatic deletion for specific emails in Outlook. Plus, if you move your emails to another folder, they are just deleted from your Inbox but are not removed from your account. Moreover, if an email breaks the rules of Microsoft, it will be deleted automatically.

Are deleted Outlook emails gone forever?

The answer depends on your situation. If you permanently delete an email in Outlook, it will go forever. If you just delete an Outlook email, it will stay in the Deleted Items folder for 30 days.

Conclusion

This guide has demonstrated three ways to recover Outlook emails. The Deleted Items folder is a built-in feature to get back your emails. Moreover, Outlook 365 allows you to restore lost emails from the server quickly. Apeaksoft Data Recovery is the ultimate solution to retrieve your emails on a computer. If you have other questions about this topic, please feel free to leave a message below.

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