Missing Folders

Question

I opened my outlook and 2 of my folders are missing. Where did they go?

Answer 1

Hi Donna, 

Thanks for reaching out about the two missing folders.  

Folders can disappear from Classic Outlook for a few reasons. The Folder Pane may simply be minimized or turned off, the navigation pane or default folders in your profile may have become corrupted, the folders may have been moved or deleted by accident, or a folder may be hidden at the mailbox level.  

To resolve the issue, please follow these steps 

1. Restore missing folders at the default delivery location 

Close Outlook, press Windows + R, type Outlook.exe /resetfolders, and press Enter. This restores missing default folders at the default delivery location. 

2. Regenerate the Folder Pane 

Close Outlook, press Windows + R, type Outlook.exe /resetnavpane, and press Enter. This clears and rebuilds the Folder Pane for your profile, which helps when the pane is the problem rather than the folders. 

3. Check whether the issue appears in Outlook on the web 

Sign in at outlook.office.com and look for the two folders there. If the folders are missing on the web, the cause is on the mailbox side rather than in your local Outlook, and that tells us which of the remaining steps to focus on. 

4. Check the Deleted Items folder 

If the folders were removed by accident, expand Deleted Items, locate them, and drag them back to the correct place in your folder list. If they are no longer in Deleted Items and you are on an Exchange account, go to the Home tab and select Recover Deleted Items From Server.  

5. Reset the hidden folder property 

If a folder is hidden at the mailbox level, its PR_ATTR_HIDDEN property may be set to True. To correct this, please follow these steps: 

• Download and extract the MFCMAPI tool. 
• Launch mfcmapi.exe and select OK through the intro screen. 
• On the Session menu, select Logon. 
• Select the Outlook profile for the affected mailbox, and select OK. 
• Double-click the email address that represents the desired mailbox. 
• In the left pane, navigate to the affected folder using the appropriate steps below for the type of Outlook profile you are using. 
• Cached Mode 
  • Expand Root - Mailbox 
  • Expand IPM_SUBTREE 
• Online Mode 
  • Expand Root Container 
  • Expand Top of information Store 
• Locate and select the folder that appears missing in Outlook, and check the value of the PR_ATTR_HIDDEN to determine if it is set to True, as shown in the following figure: 

• If PR_ATTR_HIDDEN shows a value of True, right-click the PR_ATTR_HIDDEN property and select Edit Property. 
• Uncheck the Boolean checkbox and select OK. 
• Close all MFCMAPI windows, and restart Outlook. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow the steps above and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can continue working together to resolve the issue.  

If you found the response useful, please consider marking it as accepted, as this may help other community members who are looking for similar guidance.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation.  

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