Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook All Versions

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  • Updated on February 12th, 2025

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Summary: Emails play a vital role in professional as well as personal use. In this term, MS Outlook is a popular choice due to its convenience and ease of use. However, sometimes users accidentally delete their important messages. This can be frustrating, especially when the message contains important and sensitive information. To deal with this situation, we offer tested and verified solutions. In this blog, we elaborate on the manual methods, including an Outlook PST Repair tool to recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook. Download Now   Purchase Now

Measures to Restore Permanently Deleted Emails From Outlook

Restoring permanently deleted emails in Outlook is relatively possible, depending on which version you are using. Here are some measures to help you restore lost emails:

  • Go to the Deleted Items folder in Outlook if you recently deleted it.
  • Check the recoverable items folder if the email is still not in the deleted folder.
  • Outlook also stores a temp copy of your data in the AutoRecover folder.
  • You can also recover your data from the backup (if you take backups regularly)

Understanding these options will help ensure that you can recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook, reducing the chance of data loss.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Outlook Emails?

There are numerous ways to recover deleted emails from Outlook. In this section, we have outlined some effective methods with step-by-step instructions. Follow them to recover your important emails.

Manual Methods to Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook

Recovering deleted emails in Outlook can be tricky, but there are manual methods you can try depending on your version of Outlook. However, if you are looking for solutions on how to recover permanently deleted emails from Outlook, this is next to impossible. No method can restore emails that are not in any records. Below are the common ways to retrieve emails that have been deleted:

1. Using the “Recover Deleted Items” Feature

Outlook provides the feature “Recover Deleted Items” to recover items from the Deleted Items folder. The Recoverable Items folder in Outlook is available only for a limited time, typically within a retention period of 14 to 30 days.

Steps for procedures:

  1. First, download and launch Outlook on your system.
  2. After that, go to the Clean Up section and select the Recover Deleted Items option.
  3. Here, a new window will appear showing a list of all recoverable items.
  4. Now, choose the emails or items that you want to restore.
  5. Next, tap Restore Selected Items to recover the emails back.

Limitations: An item in the recoverable items folder is only usable for a selected retention period of up to 14 to 30 days. After expiration, the system permanently deletes the item, and you cannot recover it again.

2. Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook Using the “Deleted Items” Folder

If you accidentally delete an email, go to your Deleted Items folder. If you find it, then you can drag the email back to the inbox or any other folder.

Steps for procedures:

  1. Firstly, install and open Outlook on your default system.
  2. Now, navigate to the Deleted Items folder in the folder pane.
  3. Here, select the email and items that you want to recover.
  4. Next, right-click and choose the Move option to transfer it.

Limitations: If you manually cleansed the Deleted Items folder or the messages were deleted longer than 30 days ago, they won’t appear here.

3. Recover Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook Using the Outlook Archive

If your organization or email account uses archiving, the system may move some emails to an archive file instead of permanently deleting them. You can use the auto-archiving feature in Outlook to avoid permanent deletions. This feature allows you to save your deleted items in the archive for several days before they are deleted.

Steps for procedures:

  1. First, download, install, and launch the Outlook application on your system.
  2. After that, go to the Archive folder in the folder section.
  3. Next, select the emails that you wish to import.
  4. Lastly, select and drag them to the desired folder.

Limitations: If archiving is not enabled in your case, you likely won’t have an archive.

4. Retrieve Permanently Deleted Emails Outlook From a Backup

You can restore the emails through the recovery of a recent backup when you have been regularly backing up the OST files. This is the best procedure to recover deleted emails without experiencing data loss. If you make backups of your Outlook data regularly using the Windows File History solution, you can recover deleted emails from such a backup.

Steps for procedures:

  1. First, go to the File Explorer and search the folder where your backup is stored.
  2. Then, right-click on it and select the Restore previous versions option.
  3. Next, choose the previous version based on your data.
  4. Now, tap on the Restore button to bring back the deleted data.

Limitations: You need to have a backup before the deletion of those permanent emails is made. Otherwise, this method will not work without a recent backup.

Recovery of permanently deleted emails in Outlook is not always an easy process. However, the methods above can present several avenues for recovery. From a check in the Recoverable Items folder and using backup solutions, there might be a solution dependent on your configuration and scenario. Always enable archiving and perform regular backups to prevent future loss of data.

Automated Approach to Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook

When you accidentally delete emails in Outlook, they are not permanently erased. Instead, they move to the Trash or Deleted Items folder. After the retention period, typically 14 to 30 days, the emails are permanently deleted. However, within this period, you can restore them using the Outlook PST Repair Tool. This tool simplifies the recovery process with its user-friendly features. It offers three recovery modes: Standard, Advanced, and Deep Recovery, making it easy to recover corrupt PST files and deleted emails. The tool also repairs corrupted PST files and restores them in multiple formats, ensuring a smooth recovery.

Steps to Use the Software:

  1. Download, install, and launch the Repair Tool on your default system.
  2. After that, choose the Open icon to open the desired PST file.
  3. Now, browse the PST file from your local system.
  4. Next, apply the filter and recovery mode based on your requirements.
  5. Now, you can see all the deleted items in your folder and select them.
  6. Then, tap on the Save button to save the output file.
  7. Here, you can choose the desired output file format.
  8. Additionally, you can choose the built-in feature.
  9. After that, browse the desired location to save the output file.
  10. Lastly, click on the OK button to perform the task.

Conclusion

If deleted emails are still in the Deletions folder, they can be retrieved. If you lose, damage, or permanently delete an OST file, first check the Recycle Bin to see if you can restore it. However, if you can’t find it there, a previously created backup might be available. When no backup exists and the file is permanently deleted, manual methods alone won’t work. In these situations, using professional software offers the best solution to recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook.

About The Author:

Suman Rawat is a technical content writer and expert in the fields of email migration, data recovery, and email backup. Her passion for helping people has led her to resolve many user queries related to data conversion and cloud backup.

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