Lost email subfolders under a main folder which was renamed

Hi Floreal Alvarez

I understand that after renaming a folder in Legacy Outlook for Mac, the subfolders under it disappeared. I am happy to help. Is the account type Outlook.com/Exchange, IMAP, or POP? You can check this in Outlook for Mac under Tools > Accounts.

Please follow these steps:

1) Check whether the subfolders still exist on the mail server

First, sign in to your mailbox through webmail or Outlook.com in a browser and check whether the missing subfolders are still visible there.

• If the folders are visible in webmail, they are likely not deleted. The issue may be that Outlook for Mac is not displaying or syncing the folder list correctly.
• If the folders are not visible in webmail, continue with the checks below.

2) Check Deleted Items or Trash

In Outlook for Mac, expand Deleted Items or Trash and look for the missing subfolders. If you find them, move them back under the correct main folder.

See: Recover and restore deleted items in Outlook | Microsoft Support

3) If the folders were local “On My Computer” folders, make sure they are not hidden

In Legacy Outlook for Mac:

• Go to Outlook > Preferences.
• Select General.
• Under Sidebar, clear Hide On My Computer folders.
• Check whether the missing subfolders appear under On My Computer.

4) If you use an Exchange or Outlook.com account, clear the cache only for the affected folder

If the missing folders appear in webmail but not in Outlook for Mac, try refreshing the local Outlook cache for the affected folder.

Please follow these steps:

• Make sure Outlook is connected to the internet.
• Ctrl-click or right-click the affected folder.
• Select Properties.
• On the General tab, select Empty Cache.
• Let Outlook re-download the folder contents from the server.

Important: Emptying the cache can delete information that has not synchronized with the server. Please only do this after confirming the folders or items exist in webmail, or after making a backup.

5) Back up before making more changes

Before renaming more folders, removing the account, or rebuilding anything, export your Outlook for Mac data to an .olm archive file.

In Legacy Outlook for Mac:

• Go to Tools > Export.
• Select the item types you want to export.
• Select Continue.
• Save the .olm file somewhere safe.
• Select Finish after the export completes.

See: Export items to an archive file in Outlook for Mac | Microsoft Support

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".   

Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.