Unable to Empty Junk Mail and Deleted Items Folders in Outlook on the Web

Question

Unable to Empty Junk Mail and Deleted Items Folders in Outlook on the Web

Michael Gazdzik 20

Since mid-November, there is an issue with not being able to empty the Junk Mail folder or the Deleted Items folder in Outlook on the web. There is no Litigation Hold on the mailbox. Attempts have been made to switch between cached and online mode with the desktop app, but the problem persists.

Various solutions from Microsoft, Lifewire, and Reddit have been tried without success.

Does anyone have any ideas on why this issue is occurring?

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Answer 1

SokiGuo-MSFT 31,711 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Michael Gazdzik

Welcome to our forum!

What is your account type? (Microsoft 365 business email account or personal email account).

The reason could be that the size of the recoverable item has reached its limit. More information, see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/recoverable-items-folder.

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Please check the size of the Recoverable Items folder:

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If this is the case, please follow this link to delete items from the recoverable items folder and see if it can help with this issue:

Clean up or delete items from the Recoverable Items folder in Exchange Online

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Michael Gazdzik 20 Reputation points

2024-12-10T03:23:42.8466667+00:00

I have a business account. The recoverable items folder is empty and has been since November 21. Nothing is going there.
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,711 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-12-13T06:00:38.3966667+00:00

Hi @Michael Gazdzik

Thanks for your reply!

Do you have any error messages when you empty it?

If you can provide screenshots for better research. Please be careful to hide your private information.
Michael Gazdzik 20 Reputation points

2024-12-13T14:40:47.5966667+00:00

The only message I have seen is "an error has occurred".

I have been able to remove items using Storage but I still cannot hard delete anything.
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,711 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-12-16T06:20:14.1033333+00:00

Hi

Do other users in the organization have the same problem?

Can you delete emails from other folders?
Michael Gazdzik 20 Reputation points

2024-12-16T14:22:02.59+00:00

No other user has issues. I cannot hard delete emails from any folder.

I think part of the problem is that I am the only one who has been at the org for more than 7 years. I receive a lot of legitimate email daily that have attachments, like screenshots and contracts.

I am only using 10% of my mailbox.
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,711 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-12-20T02:24:30.7066667+00:00

Hi @Michael Gazdzik

Can you "hard-delete" items by holding the shift key and pressing delete?

Please double-check that other admins in your organization have set retention policies.

How to identify the type of hold placed on an Exchange Online mailbox
Michael Gazdzik 20 Reputation points

2024-12-20T04:00:58.2466667+00:00

I have been unable to hard delete since the issue started. I was only able to remove items from the deleted items folder by using Settings>Account>Storage. That no longer works. Microsoft suggested I wait 30 days and try using Powershell in Compliance again. I am using less than 10% of my mailbox.
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,711 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-12-23T01:51:10.4033333+00:00

Hi

Thanks for your reply! We recommend that you continue to contact Microsoft for more professional advice. Also, if there are any updates you can share here as well. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Answer 2

Michael Gazdzik 20

Turns out there was a retention tag created by a former admin for an alias of mine to prevent deletion of Discovery Holds. The solution was to remove all the retention tags, remove unnecessary emails, and then recreate them and retention policy.

The former admin had created all sorts of policies and never documented anything.

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Unable to Empty Junk Mail and Deleted Items Folders in Outlook on the Web

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