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Outlook mail attachments stored on https://outlook.live.com/files/

Anonymous
2019-07-24T20:08:51+00:00

Hi

I was looking for something in my online account and stumbled on this link.

https://outlook.live.com/files/

There are files and images from email attachments that I have sent in the past. The emails have long since been deleted but the attachments and images are still up there.  I had no idea that Microsoft was saving our stuff but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Anyway, I contacted tech support this morning and they remoted into my PC.  They were unable to delete the images as well.

Anyone else have this problem?  How do I delete them?

Thanks

Barbara

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-07-24T21:34:45+00:00

    Files is just a listing of attachments to messages you have sent or received. For image attachments, you will see a thumbnail of the image. True, if the message a file was attached to has been deleted, the file should no longer appear in the listing. However, this isn't always the case, and some files may be listed even though the underlying message is no longer present. It's of no consequence, and there's no risk to you or anyone else. 

    What happens if you click on one of these phantom files?

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-07-24T21:25:25+00:00

    Hi Tom

    I spent a lot of time doing online chat with Microsoft this morning and again this afternoon. I am out of time. I am leaving for vacation tomorrow morning so it will have to wait until I get home. Maybe they will figure it out by then.  I told them they can delete all of it.

    Thanks.

    Barbara

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-07-24T21:24:05+00:00

    Hi Dave

    Nope. One Drive is completely empty. I don't ever use One Drive. The "images" and "files" they have on their server are attachments to emails that I have previously sent and which have since been deleted. They are no longer in my Sent Folder nor Deleted Items.  I have many times gone onto outlook.com and emptied the Deleted Items so that I can't even restore them because I know that they hold onto them for a period of time.  I guess they like keeping my attachments on their servers.

    Barbara

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  5. DaveM121 886.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2019-07-24T20:12:42+00:00

    Hi Barbara

    If you log into OneDrive, are those files stored there and if so, can you delete those from there?

    https://onedrive.live.com/about/signin/

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