Hotmail Sent Items Folder Emails Missing

Question

I would like to request your assistance regarding my Hotmail/Outlook account. Recently, I noticed that emails from my “Sent Items” folder are missing and not visible in my account.

I have already checked the Deleted Items, Archive, and other folders, but the sent emails could not be found. Therefore, I kindly request you to investigate the issue and help recover my missing sent emails.

Answer 1

Hi kashif Jahangir Ashraf

I understand you’re having an issue where emails in your “Sent Items” folder are no longer visible in your Hotmail/Outlook.com account.

Have you already tried the Q&A Assist suggestions? In addition, I’d like to first confirm a couple of details to narrow this down:

• Are you accessing your account only via Outlook.com (web), or also through Outlook desktop / mobile apps?
• Do you notice if the missing emails are from a specific time period (for example, older than a certain date)?
• Have you recently added or connected another email client or device (e.g., mobile mail app, third‑party client)?

In the meantime, you can try the following:

1, Check for Rules that may move Sent emails

• In Outlook.com, go to “Settings” > “Mail” > “Rules”
• Review if any rule is configured to move or delete outgoing/sent messages

2, Search for the missing emails

Instead of browsing folders:

• Use the search bar at the top
• Try queries like: folder:sent or search by recipient email address

This helps confirm whether the emails still exist but are just misplaced.

3, Try another browser or InPrivate window

This helps rule out display/filter issues:

• Open Outlook.com in an InPrivate/Incognito window
• Check if the Sent Items appear correctly there

Please feel free to let me know how it goes and thank you for your understanding.

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Answer 2

Follow these steps in Outlook.com / Outlook on the web to troubleshoot and try to recover missing Sent Items:

1. Confirm the Sent Items folder and view
   1. In the left pane, expand your account and select Sent Items.
   2. If messages still do not appear, check that they are not being filtered from view (for example, by date, read/unread, or other criteria). Items can disappear from a folder if a filter is applied to the current view.
2. Check if Outlook is saving sent messages If Outlook is not configured to keep a copy of sent messages, they will not appear in Sent Items.
   1. In Outlook (desktop), select File > Options > Mail.
   2. Scroll to Save messages and make sure Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder is checked.
   3. If this option is controlled by policy in an organization, an admin can verify the Save copies of messages in Sent Items folder policy is enabled.
3. Verify the messages were actually sent
   1. Check the Outbox folder in Outlook or Outlook on the web. If there are messages stuck there, they were not sent successfully (for example, due to connectivity issues). Once they send successfully, they should appear in Sent Items if saving is enabled.
4. Check Deleted Items, Junk, and Recoverable Items
   1. In Outlook.com / Outlook on the web, open Deleted Items and Junk Email and look for the missing messages.
   2. If not found there, in Deleted Items select Recover items deleted from this folder (this opens the Recoverable Items folder).
   3. Select any messages to restore and choose Restore. Items are restored to their original folder when possible; if the original folder no longer exists, messages go to Inbox.
5. Check time-based sync or retention If the account is also used in Outlook desktop with Cached Exchange Mode or IMAP, older sent items might not be kept offline, but they should still exist in the mailbox online. In Outlook desktop you can extend the offline range:
   1. File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
   2. Select the account > Change.
   3. Move Mail to keep offline to a longer interval.
6. If items are still missing If the messages are not in Sent Items, Deleted Items, Junk Email, or Recoverable Items, and were not stuck in Outbox, they may have been permanently removed and cannot be recovered via the standard recovery options. In that case, use Outlook.com’s in-product Help to contact support for further investigation.

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References:

• View sent email
• Items disappear or are not visible in an Outlook folder
• Recover and restore deleted items in Outlook
• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• Email sent using Outlook aren't saved to the Sent Items folder