Outlook: How to Recover Deleted Items in Outlook for Windows

When you accidentally delete an item from your Outlook mailbox, you can often recover it. The first place to look is the Deleted Items folder. If you can't find it there, the next place to look is the Recoverable Items folder, which you can access by using the Recover Deleted Items tool.

Need to recover a deleted folder in Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 for Windows? You can recover a deleted folder (with all of its messages) if it's still in your Deleted Items folder. If you delete a folder, it's moved to the Deleted Items folder and appears as a subfolder. To recover the folder and all the items it contains, right click the deleted folder, click Move Folder and then select a place to move the folder.

You can't recover a folder that has been permanently deleted. You can, however, use the steps below to recover messages from the folder you deleted.

Read Microsoft's full guide on recovering deleted items in Outlook for Windows, which includes a short video that walks you through the process. 

Recover an Item That's No Longer in Your Deleted Items Folder

If you can't find an item in the Deleted Items folder, the next place to look is the Recoverable Items folder. This is a hidden folder where items are moved when you do one of the following things:

• Delete an item from the Deleted Items folder
• Empty the Deleted Items folder
• Permanently delete an item by selecting it and pressing Shift+Delete

Here's how to recover items from the Recoverable Items folder:

1. In Outlook, go to your email folder list and click Deleted Items. Then:
   
   
   1. If you have Outlook 2013, click the Folder tab, and then click Recover Deleted Items.
      
      
      
      
   2. If you have Outlook 2016, click the Home tab, and then click Recover Deleted Items From Server. Note: If Recover Deleted Items From Server is grayed out or isn't there, you might be working in offline mode. To work online, switch from offline to online mode.
      
      
      
      
2. Select the item you want to recover, select Restore Selected Items and click OK.
   
   
   
   

Note: You can recover email messages, contacts, calendar items and tasks from the Recoverable Items folder. When you recover items from the Recoverable Items folder, they are moved to the Deleted Items folder. So after you recover an item, you can find it in your Deleted Items folder and then move it to another folder. If you recover a calendar appointment, contact or task, it's also moved to the Deleted Items folder. From there, you can move it back to your calendar, contact list or tasks. To find recovered items, just search for them in the Deleted Items folder.

Tips for Recovering Items in your Recoverable Items Folder

• To help find a specific item in the Recover Deleted Items window, click the Subject, Deleted On or From column header to sort items by that column. The Deleted On date specifies when items were permanently deleted (by using Shift + Delete) or deleted from the Deleted Items folder.
  
  
  
  
• Sort by the Deleted On column to help find multiple messages from a deleted folder if the folder was deleted by using Shift + Delete because those messages would all have the same Deleted On date.
• All items in the Recoverable Items folder, including contacts, calendar items and tasks, are represented by the same icon, which looks like an envelope.
  
  
  
  
• If you have a lot of items in the Recoverable Items folder, it may be hard to find what you're looking for. Here are some tips:
  • If you're looking for a contact, sort by the Subject column and look for the name of the person. You can also sort by the From column and look for blank entries because contacts don't have a From field.
  • If you're looking for a calendar appointment or a task, sort by the From column and look for your name.
• To recover multiple items, click Restore Selected Items and press CTRL as you click each item. You can also recover multiple adjacent items by clicking the first item, holding down the Shift key and then clicking the last item you want to recover.
• You can recover items in the Recoverable Items folder for up to 15 days. If you can't find an item in the Recoverable Items folder, email support@rowan.edu for help. Unfortunately, if you or the Technology Support Center can't find an item in the Recoverable Items folder, it's probably been permanently deleted from your mailbox and can't be recovered.