Restore a Deleted Email

Outlook keeps deleted messages for a while after you remove them, including after you empty Deleted Items.

You can recover an email for up to 30 days.

First, search everywhere

Before assuming it is deleted, search all folders. Most lost emails have been filed, archived or moved by a rule.

In Outlook, click the search box, set the scope to All mailboxes or Current mailbox, and search for the sender or a phrase from the subject line. Check the Archive and Junk Email folders too.

Check Deleted Items

1. Open the Deleted Items folder.
2. Find the message.
3. Right-click it, choose Move, and pick Inbox or wherever it belongs.

Not there? Recover it

Emails removed from Deleted Items are held for a short period longer and can be recovered.

In Outlook on your computer:

1. Select the Deleted Items folder.
2. Choose Recover items recently removed from this folder at the top of the message list.
3. In the new Outlook, this is under the Folder tab, or right-click Deleted Items and choose Recover deleted items.

Select the messages you want and choose Restore.

In Outlook on the web:

1. Go to outlook.office.com and sign in.
2. Select Deleted Items in the folder list.
3. Choose Recover items deleted from this folder at the top.
4. Select the messages and choose Restore.

Recovered messages go back to Deleted Items. Move them to your inbox from there.

If it has been longer than 30 days

Send us a message with the sender, the approximate date, and anything you remember from the subject line. Depending on how the mailbox is configured we may still be able to find it.