my incoming email is going directly to the deleted items folder

Question

all of my email is going directly to the deleted items folder instead of my inbox. How can I correct it?

Answer 1

Hi Info,

I understand that every incoming message in Outlook.com is being moved directly to Deleted Items instead of the Inbox.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors cannot access or change your mailbox settings.

The Q&A Assist suggestion to check your inbox rules is the most relevant first step. Have you had a chance to open Settings > Mail > Rules and temporarily disable any rule that moves or deletes incoming messages? Rules can process messages as soon as they arrive. Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook

I would also like to add that Sweep can automatically delete future messages from a particular sender. If this happens only with certain senders, review whether Sweep was previously applied to those senders. Organize your inbox with Archive, Sweep, and other tools

After removing any unwanted rule or Sweep action, move one message back to the Inbox and send a new test message to confirm that incoming mail now remains there.

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Answer 2

For Outlook.com, the most common causes are a mail rule, a blocked sender entry, or an ignored conversation.

1. Check mail rules.
   • Open Outlook.com.
   • Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.
   • Delete or disable any rule that moves messages to Deleted Items.
2. Check blocked senders.
   • Go to Settings > Mail > Blocked senders and domains or Junk email.
   • If valid senders appear there, remove them.
3. Check whether the conversation is being ignored.
   • Open Deleted Items.
   • Select a message from a thread that keeps getting deleted.
   • On the Home tab, select Ignore.
   • If prompted, select Stop Ignoring Conversation.
   • This moves the message back to its original folder and future messages in that thread should stay in the Inbox.
4. If messages are going to Junk and then disappearing, check whether a rule is deleting them.
   • In Outlook.com, messages in Junk are automatically deleted between 10 and 30 days after arrival.

If the issue started unexpectedly, also review the mailbox for suspicious changes such as rules that delete mail.

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References:

• Mail goes to the Junk folder by mistake
• Messages in an e-mail thread are automatically moved to the Deleted Items folder
• How do I fix an issue of my new emails going to the delete folder? - Microsoft Q&A
• All incoming email now loads to deleted folder - Microsoft Q&A