Recovering Deleted Emails

SUMMARY
Email messages can be recovered for approximately one month after they are removed from the Deleted Items folder.

 

Outlook for Windows

To recover deleted emails in Outlook for Windows:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click on your Deleted Items folder.
  3. Above your list of messages, click the Recover items recently removed from this folder link.
  4. In the Recover Deleted Items window that appears, you will see a list of recoverable messages. They can be sorted by Subject, Deleted Date, Received Date, From (Sender), and Sent To (Recipient)
    1. When you attempt to sort, be patient. Depending on the number of messages, this could take 10-20 seconds.
  5. Click on a single message, or select multiple messages by holding down the CTRL key while clicking on each message.
  6. Below the message list, ensure that Restore Selected Items is chosen, then click OK.
  7. The selected messages should appear in your Deleted Items folder. It is best practice to then move the message into another folder, rather than keeping it in the Deleted Items folder.

 

Outlook Webmail (OWA)

To recover deleted emails in Outlook Webmail (OWA):

  1. Navigate to https://outlook.office.com and sign in with your OSU credentials.
  2. Click on your Deleted Items folder.
  3. Above your list of messages, click the Recover items deleted from this folder link.
  4. The list of messages will likely be quite long. Click on a single message, or select multiple messages by holding down the CTRL key while clicking on each message.
  5. Right-click the message(s) you have highlighted, then choose Restore from the menu that appears.
  6. The selected messages should appear in your Deleted Items folder. It is best practice to then move the message into another folder, rather than keeping it in the Deleted Items folder.
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