Deleted emails

Question

All emails have been deleted from my account, but I didn't delete them, and they aren't in the deleted folder. I don't know when this happened but it means I can't access emails from my mum who passed away. Possibly due to my inbox being full and spam emails. Is there any way I can try to get these back? Thank you

Answer 1

Thanks for confirming, Mily. Since it’s an old Outlook.com account and the emails were deleted more than 30 days ago, they’re permanently removed and can’t be recovered. Outlook.com only keeps deleted messages for up to 30 days, even if the deletion wasn’t intentional.

You can still sign in at outlook.com and check Deleted Items, then select “Recover deleted items” to be sure. After that period, there’s no option to restore them. For the future, try using the Archive feature or export important emails to a file on your computer to keep them safe.

Answer 2

Hello. Thanks for reaching out!

Is your account Outlook.com, Exchange, or Microsoft 365? If it is, you can check the Recoverable Items folder or use “Recover deleted items” in Outlook on the web. Microsoft keeps deleted items for up to 30 days for Outlook.com and 14–30 days for Microsoft 365, depending on your plan.

For Microsoft 365, an admin can restore emails from Exchange Online. Emails beyond these retention periods cannot be recovered.