How can I find my Outbox folder

Question

I tried to send an email with too many attachments and received an undeliverable response. My problem now is that the text of that email has disappeared altogether. It is not in the Sent folder and not in Drafts either. And if an Outbox folder does actually exist, I am simply unable to find it. Can you help please?

Answer 1

Hi John,

Thanks for clarifying that you’re using Outlook on the web (Outlook.com) the steps I shared earlier were for the desktop app so let’s adjust for the web version. In Outlook.com there is no Outbox folder like in the desktop app. Emails that fail to send usually remain in Drafts or they disappear if the send attempt was interrupted. Try checking your Drafts and Sent Items again to see if the message is there. You can also use the search bar at the top of Outlook.com by typing part of the subject or text from the missing email and selecting All folders in the search options. It’s also worth checking the Deleted Items folder because sometimes failed messages end up there automatically. If the email isn’t in any of these folders Outlook.com does not keep an Outbox for unsent messages so the message may have been lost during the failed send attempt in that case you’ll need to recreate the email.

Best regards,

Marcelo

Answer 2

To find your Outbox folder in Outlook, you can follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook: Launch the Outlook application on your computer.
2. Navigate to the Folder Pane: Look for the Folder Pane on the left side of the Outlook window. If you don't see it, you can enable it by going to the View tab and selecting Folder Pane > Normal.
3. Locate the Outbox: In the Folder Pane, you should see a list of folders including Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, and Outbox. The Outbox folder is typically located below the Inbox folder.

If your email is stuck in the Outbox, it may be due to an issue with the Sent Items folder, as Outlook sometimes cannot locate it properly. In this case, you might need to check if the Sent Items folder is functioning correctly or if it has been mistakenly converted into another folder.

If you still cannot find the Outbox folder, you may want to check your Outlook settings or consider resetting your folder views to ensure everything is displayed correctly.

Regarding the email that disappeared, it may have been filtered out or not saved properly. You can check your filtering options in the view settings to ensure that no filters are hiding your emails.

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References:

• Email messages are stuck in Outbox in Outlook 2016 for Mac
• Items disappear or are not visible in an Outlook folder

Answer 3

Hello John,

Thank you for reaching out about not being able to find your Outbox folder in Outlook I understand how frustrating it can be when an important email disappears especially after receiving an undeliverable message. This usually happens because Outlook temporarily stores unsent messages in the Outbox and if the message fails to send or gets corrupted, it may not appear in Sent Items or Drafts.

One alternative solution you can try is to check if your Outbox folder is hidden due to a collapsed folder view or a customized layout. Go to the View tab in Outlook and select Reset View to restore the default folder structure. If the Outbox still does not appear switch to Mail View and ensure that all folders are visible by enabling Show All Folders in the navigation pane. In some cases the Outbox only appears when there is a message pending to be sent so you can create a new email and disconnect from the internet temporarily to force it into the Outbox. This will confirm whether the folder exists and is functioning properly.

Could you check if resetting the view or creating a test email helps you locate the Outbox?

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo