Missing inbox emails

Question

inbox was divided into lots of sub categories for individual persons, I removed the individual folders but now dont receive anything to my inbox

Answer 1

Hi @Hutchinson, Gary (Deck Team Member)

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.  

Could you please confirm whether you previously configured any rules that move these emails to a specific folder? 

I tested the behavior based on your description, when a rule moves emails to a folder and that folder is deleted, Outlook appears to redirect those messages to the Deleted Items folder, creating a subfolder with the same name as the original rule’s target folder. If your Outlook still has an active rule pointing to these folders, incoming messages may continue to be redirected there. 

Please check your Classic Outlook rules by following these steps:  Outlook > File > Manage Rules & Alerts  Review any rules that move messages to specific folders and delete them. 

After removing the rule, you can restore your emails back to your Inbox. 

If you do not see any rules in Classic Outlook, please check Outlook on the Web (OWA) as well, in case there are any hidden rules.

I hope this helps. 

Please understand that our initial reply may not always immediately resolve the issue. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. 

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Answer 2

Most likely an Inbox rule or filter is still diverting new mail away from the main Inbox, even though the folders were deleted.

Try these checks in classic Outlook for Windows:

1. Check for rules moving mail
   1. In Outlook, go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts.
   2. Look for any rules that move messages to specific folders (including ones that no longer exist) or to RSS/Archive/other folders.
   3. Uncheck or delete any rules that should not run.
   4. Select OK, then restart Outlook and test by sending a message to the account.
2. Check filters and sorting on the Inbox
   1. Go to the Inbox folder.
   2. On the View tab, select View Settings > Filter and ensure no filter is hiding messages.
   3. On the View tab, select View Settings > Sort and make sure sorting is by Received (or similar) so new mail appears where expected.
3. Check Junk, Other, Archive, and Deleted Items New mail may be arriving but not in the main Inbox:
   • Check Junk Email, Deleted Items, and Archive folders.
   • If messages are there, move them back to Inbox and mark them as Not junk or use Move to Inbox so Outlook learns the correct behavior.
4. Check Outlook.com/Exchange webmail rules (if mailbox is hosted there) If this is an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 mailbox:
   1. Sign in to webmail.
   2. Check Rules settings and remove or edit any rule that moves or deletes incoming mail.
   3. Check Filter settings and set to show All messages.

If, after removing or disabling all rules and filters, new mail still does not appear in Inbox, use the in-product help channel to contact support from Outlook or Outlook.com so they can review server-side rules and mailbox configuration.

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References:

• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com