Missing or deleted email

Question

I noticed a large portion of my emails have gone missing from 2015 to 2017. I need help retrieving them please.

Thank you for your assistance

Answer 1

Hi Geral Cooper,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A.

If mail from 2015–2017 seems missing in Outlook, it’s usually one of these: a filter/view is hiding it, Outlook is only syncing recent mail to your PC, or older mail was moved to an archive (.pst).

Quick checks

1) Make sure it’s not hidden

• Open the folder (Inbox, etc.) > Home > Filter Email > clear anything like Unread
• If you use Focused Inbox, check both Focused and Other

2) Instant date scan

• Click the Search box and try: received:01/01/2015..12/31/2017
• Set search scope to Current Mailbox / All Mailboxes, and include Subfolders if available.
• Note: If search seems “finicky,” it can be because older mail isn’t downloaded locally yet (sync slider), or Windows Search indexing needs attention.

3) Download all mail locally (if it still exists on the server)

• File > Account Settings > Account Settings > select your account > Change
• Under Offline Settings, set Mail to keep offline to All > restart Outlook and let it resync.
• Then try the search again.

4) If search still won’t find older mail

• Rebuild the search index: Control Panel > Indexing Options > Advanced > Rebuild, then restart Outlook.

5) Check for archived mail

• Look for an Archive folder tree, or open a PST: File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File
• Also review AutoArchive: File > Options > Advanced

One question so I can guide you precisely

Do you still see those 2015–2017 emails when you sign into your email on the web (Outlook.com/Gmail/etc.)? If yes, it’s usually sync/view/indexing. If no, we’ll focus on Archive/PST/Deleted recovery paths.

Please let me know if this proves useful to you or if you would like further assistance.

I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Answer 2

To retrieve missing emails from 2015 to 2017, you can use the In-Place eDiscovery feature in Exchange Online or Exchange Server. Here are the steps you can follow:

1. Check Permissions: Ensure you have the necessary permissions assigned to perform eDiscovery searches.
2. Use In-Place eDiscovery: You can search for missing items in the Exchange admin center (EAC). However, note that this method does not restrict the search to the Recoverable Items folder, so you may need to filter the results afterward.
3. PowerShell Commands: If you prefer using PowerShell, you can run the following command to search for recoverable items in a specific mailbox:

      Get-RecoverableItems -Identity <user_email> -FilterStartTime "01/01/2015" -FilterEndTime "12/31/2017"
   

   Replace <user_email> with the email address of the user whose emails you are trying to recover.
4. Review Results: After running the search, check the results in the discovery mailbox and recover the necessary items.
5. Retention Policies: Be aware that if the deleted items retention period has expired, you may not be able to recover those emails. Ensure that your mailbox settings allow for sufficient retention of deleted items.

If you need further assistance, consider reaching out to your IT administrator or support team for help with the recovery process.