Deleted junk mail

Question

I received a gift card via junk email on 2/13/26. How can I recover it?

Answer 1

Hi, I'm John J.D.

I’ll be straight with you.

If that email was already deleted from the Junk Email folder back in 2/13/26, it’s very likely gone for good now. Outlook only keeps recoverable emails for a limited time (usually around 14–30 days). After that, they’re permanently deleted and can’t be brought back.

You can still quickly check Deleted Items > “Recover items deleted from this folder” But if it’s not there, there’s no way to recover it anymore.

At this point, your best option is to contact the sender of the gift card and ask them to resend it.

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Should you need further information please let me know.

Click "Add comment" to let me know.

Answer 2

In Outlook.com or Outlook on the web, junk email is only kept for 30 days and then it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

For future cases (within 30 days of receipt):

1. Go to Outlook.com or Outlook on the web.
2. Open the Junk Email folder.
3. Select the message.
4. On the ribbon, choose Move > Inbox (or another folder), or select Report > Not junk to restore it and mark the sender as not junk.

If the gift card email from 2/13/26 is now older than 30 days and no longer appears in Junk Email or Deleted Items, it is not recoverable.

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References:

• Filter junk email and spam in Outlook
• Recover and restore deleted items in Outlook