My Outlook.com / Hotmail mailbox is currently unusable because every incoming email is automatically deleted.

Question

My Outlook.com / Hotmail mailbox is currently unusable because every incoming email is automatically deleted.

Behavior:

• An email arrives in the Inbox

• It appears for about one second

• Then it disappears automatically

Important details:

• The message does NOT appear in Deleted Items

• It does NOT appear in Junk

• It does NOT appear in Archive

• It simply vanishes from the mailbox

At the same time I am receiving password reset emails from services and banks. These appear briefly and then disappear as well.

Additionally, a scam email message (a sextortion message claiming a hacker installed a RAT and listing an old password) keeps appearing in my mailbox. It sometimes shows as a "Draft" but it appears inside the Inbox thread instead of the Drafts folder.

This makes it look like incoming emails are being replaced by that message.

Security steps already taken:

• Password changed multiple times

• Two-factor authentication enabled

• Signed out everywhere

• All inbox rules removed

• Forwarding disabled

• POP and IMAP disabled

• Connected apps removed

• Devices removed

I contacted Microsoft support chat multiple times but they say the account is fine and cannot see a problem.

However the mailbox clearly behaves incorrectly.

Because of this I cannot receive password resets, banking notifications, or important emails.

This mailbox was previously compromised and now appears to have either:

• a hidden server-side rule

• an external client deleting mail

• mailbox rule table corruption

Please escalate this case to the Outlook mailbox engineering team to:

• reset the mailbox rule table

• check for hidden rules

• reset the mailbox configuration

The account itself is accessible but the mailbox cannot receive emails normally.

Answer 1

Based on the described behavior and the steps already completed (rules removed, forwarding/POP/IMAP/connected apps/devices disabled or removed, password and MFA secured), the next actions must focus on:

1. Verifying that no visible Outlook.com features are hiding or redirecting mail.
2. Using official Outlook.com support escalation paths so the mailbox can be checked server-side (including for hidden rules or corruption), since this cannot be done by end users.

Take these steps in order:

1. Check filters, Focused/Other, sort order, and Junk
   1. In Outlook.com, select Filter above the message list and choose All to ensure no filter is hiding messages.
   2. Check both Focused and Other tabs; messages can be separated there. If needed, move messages back and forth.
   3. Restore chronological order: select Filter > Sort > Date so messages are not appearing out of order or in unexpected positions.
   4. Open the Junk Email folder and verify messages are not being misclassified. If any legitimate messages appear there, select them and choose Not junk > Not junk to return them to the Inbox.
2. Re‑check Junk, rules, forwarding, POP/IMAP from Outlook.com settings Even though these were already reviewed, confirm them directly from the Outlook.com web settings:
   1. Go to Junk Email settings and verify there are no blocked senders or filters that could be deleting or moving messages automatically. If legitimate domains or senders are listed, remove them.
   2. Go to Rules settings and confirm there are no Inbox or Sweep rules left that move or delete messages. Remove or disable any rule that touches incoming mail.
   3. Confirm email forwarding is disabled so messages are not being redirected elsewhere.
   4. Confirm POP and IMAP are disabled so no external client can connect and delete messages. If they are enabled, disable them and test again.
3. Check for third‑party or non‑Microsoft clients
   1. If any third‑party mail apps or services were ever connected, ensure they are fully disconnected and no longer have valid credentials.
   2. If any non‑Microsoft app is still configured with old credentials and supports POP/IMAP, it could be deleting mail as it downloads. Disabling POP/IMAP in Outlook.com (already done) is the correct mitigation; keep them disabled.
4. Confirm the account itself is active and not auto‑purged
   1. Ensure sign‑in to Outlook.com has occurred within the last year and to the Microsoft account within the last two years. If the mailbox had been closed for inactivity, mail would have been deleted and the behavior would be different, but this check confirms the account is considered active.
5. Use official Outlook.com support escalation paths Because the behavior suggests a possible hidden rule or mailbox‑level corruption that cannot be fixed from the UI, use the documented Outlook.com support channels that can escalate to engineering if needed:
   1. While signed in to Outlook.com, select Help on the menu bar, enter a brief description (for example, “Incoming mail appears then disappears; not in Junk/Deleted/Archive; all rules/forwarding/POP/IMAP disabled”), and follow the self‑help prompts.
   2. If the self‑help does not resolve the issue, scroll down to Still need help? and select Yes to open a support request. Clearly state:
      • All security steps already taken (password changes, MFA, sign‑out everywhere).
      • That all rules, forwarding, POP/IMAP, and connected apps are disabled.
      • That messages appear briefly then vanish and are not present in Inbox, Junk, Deleted Items, or Archive.
      • That a recurring scam message appears as a draft in the Inbox thread.
   3. If sign‑in becomes impossible at any point, use the dedicated “can’t sign in” support entry point.
6. If the issue persists If, after confirming all the above, mail still appears briefly and then disappears with no trace in any folder, only Microsoft’s internal support/engineering can:
   • Inspect for hidden or corrupted rules.
   • Reset mailbox‑level configuration or rule tables.
   • Investigate any server‑side anomaly specific to the mailbox.

Use the Outlook.com in‑product Help → Still need help? path as the supported way to get that escalation.

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References:

• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• Can't send or receive email in Outlook.com
• Emails deleted from Outlook.com are reverting back to the Inbox
• Stopped receiving emails on my account. - Microsoft Q&A
• MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A
• Is this legit email also? - Microsoft Q&A
• I have tried multiple times to try to get help on this forum and my question keeps getting deleted. - Microsoft Q&A
• Class outlook is not working properly after Windows 11 version 25H2 update - Microsoft Q&A