How to stop Outlook for Mac from automatically deleting meeting emails after an RSVP?

Question

The same question was also asked 5 years ago with no proper response on this Forum. There is still no way to turn off automatic deletion in the Outlook for Mac settings as far as I can tell. When is Microsoft going to fix this nonsense "feature" that no one wants? We need to be able to access and see the meeting invite emails even after RSVP.

The previous question mentioned going into File --> Options --> Mail. This does not exist. There is no options in File and there is no Setting in Outlook Settings that allows this "feature" to be changed. Fix this please!!!

Answer 1

Currently, there is no specific information in the provided context regarding the automatic deletion of meeting emails after an RSVP in Outlook for Mac. The context primarily discusses issues related to Outlook settings and behaviors, such as changes after Group Policy settings are removed and the processing of meeting responses.

For the specific issue of stopping Outlook for Mac from automatically deleting meeting emails, I recommend checking the latest updates from Microsoft or the official Outlook support documentation, as this may be a feature that has not been addressed in the context provided.

You may also want to explore any available settings in the Outlook for Mac application or provide feedback directly to Microsoft regarding this feature request.

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References:

• Outlook settings may unexpectedly change after administrator removes Group Policy settings that control some Outlook features
• The Outlook meeting tracking tab is not updated
• Information about the Outlook Sniffer functionality
• The Outlook meeting tracking tab is not updated
• Outlook settings may unexpectedly change after administrator removes Group Policy settings that control some Outlook features

Answer 2

Hi Prathikshaa Rangarajan, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum! 

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well! 

I completely understand how frustrating it is that Outlook for Mac automatically deletes meeting invite emails after you click Accept/Decline, and that there’s no obvious setting to turn this off. 

After reviewing Microsoft’s official documentation and testing this myself in a virtual environment, the results consistently show that: 

• Deleting the meeting invite email after you RSVP is by design in Outlook for Mac. 
• Currently, there is no option on Mac that allows you to keep the original invite email after you Accept/Decline/Tentative. 

Microsoft designed it this way mainly to: 

• Keep the Inbox clean and less cluttered: invites that have already been processed no longer take up space in your Inbox. 
• Avoid duplicated information: all important meeting details (time, location, meeting link, notes, etc.) are already stored in the Calendar event, so in theory you only need to open your calendar to see them again, without keeping the original email. 
• Reduce manual cleanup: since users receive many invites every day, automatic cleanup helps them focus on other, more important emails. 

In my tests, even after changing various settings, once you send an Accept/Decline response, the invite email is still deleted as a core mechanism, and there is no way to keep the original email in the Inbox like on some other platforms. 

I hope this helps clarify how it works. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know. 

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Answer 3

You can Vote for and Comment on these existing Feature Request:

Automatically deletion of accepted invitations
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/6abba241-e525-f011-9d48-000d3a0d77f1

Feature to disable auto-delete accepted meeting invitations.
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/e99ce888-8256-f011-95f3-7c1e5299279a

Stop deleting meeting invites on Outlook for Mac
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/3a118fc1-4179-ef11-a4e7-6045bdb238dc

Prevent Meeting Invites from Moving to Deleted Items After Acceptance in Outlook for Mac
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/7703e055-497f-f011-8151-7c1e5297e660