How to recover e-mails not showing in recover deleted items folder

Question

I am being told I have been sent e-mails from a company from nearly 3 months ago. (on 16-11-2025)

I can't see these e-mails and have tried "Recover items deleted from this folder" option from the deleted items folder, in case I may have deleted them, but no e-mails show up from that company from around that time, in fact, there are a few other e-mails that show up even before 16-11-2025, but no e-mails are showing up from that company at all, neither on 16-11-2025 or earlier or before (apart from the one that I have received from them, which wasn't deleted anyway, it's in my inbox)

1. If I had deleted them back then, it would show up in the recover deleted e-mails folder right? But if it's not showing there, then could it be deleted and just not be recovered?

If so, is there a way I can recover these?

2. Also, they are saying that I sent them e-mails too around that time but I can't find them either.

is there a way to recover e-mails that I have SENT? From where and how can I do this?

Answer 1

Hi, Based on what you’re seeing, it’s very possible those older messages from that company never arrived in your mailbox, which would explain why you can’t find them anywhere, especially since the one you did receive went straight to your Inbox and wasn’t moved/deleted. If the messages had been delivered and later deleted, they would typically appear either in Deleted Items, Junk Email, Archive/Other, or in search results; and “Recover items deleted from this folder” would only show items that were actually deleted from that mailbox and are still within the recoverable retention window.

After roughly 30 days, emails removed from Deleted Items are usually purged from the “recoverable items” area and can’t be restored, so if those emails were deleted back in November 2025, they would normally be outside the recoverable period now.

For Sent mail, there isn’t a separate recovery location unless the messages were actually stored in your Sent Items (or moved/archived) and then deleted; if they’re not in Sent Items, try searching with terms like the recipient address and checking any additional folders or rules, but if the messages were deleted more than 30 days ago, they generally can’t be recovered.

Answer 2

If you cannot find emails in the "Recover Deleted Items" folder, it is possible that the emails have been purged and are no longer recoverable. In Exchange, deleted items are retained for a certain period, and if that period has expired, they cannot be recovered by users. However, administrators can recover purged messages if the deleted item retention period has not expired. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Check Deleted Item Retention: Ensure that the deleted item retention policy for your mailbox is still active. By default, Exchange retains deleted items for 14 days, but this can be configured by your administrator.
2. Contact Your Administrator: If the emails are not showing up in the recoverable items folder, reach out to your IT administrator. They may have the ability to recover purged emails from the mailbox if the retention period allows it.
3. Searching Sent Items: To recover sent emails, you can check your "Sent Items" folder. If you cannot find them there, you can also use the In-Place eDiscovery tool or the Search-Mailbox cmdlet if you have administrative access. This allows you to search for items across mailboxes and may help you locate the sent emails.
4. Using EAC for Recovery: If you have administrative access, you can navigate to the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and use the recovery options available for deleted items. This includes searching for and recovering items that may not be visible to regular users.

If you are unable to recover the emails through these methods, it is likely that they are permanently deleted and cannot be restored.

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References:

• Recover deleted messages in a user's mailbox in Exchange Online
• Recover deleted messages in a mailbox in Exchange 2013