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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →If an Outlook message was deleted, recover it in this order: check Deleted Items and Junk Email, use Recoverable Items if Deleted Items was emptied, and only then repair a damaged local PST with Microsoft’s Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe). ScanPST repairs a PST’s structure; it is not a guaranteed undelete utility. Work on a copy of the original PST and inspect the backup ScanPST creates.
First determine where the message still exists
A PST (Personal Storage Table) is a local Outlook data file. It may contain an archive, an exported mailbox, or folders that are no longer available on the server. Deleted-mail recovery is different when the message is still in an Outlook folder, retained on an Exchange server, or present only in a damaged PST.
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| Where the message may be | File or mailbox condition | Who can act | Retention issue | Risk to the original |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deleted Items or Junk Email | Outlook opens normally | User | Until the folder is emptied or its policy removes the item | Low; move the message to a safe folder |
| Recoverable Items | Deleted Items is empty, account supports recovery | User, when the command is available | Controlled by the mailbox’s retention policy | Low; use Restore before making other changes |
| Local PST | PST opens, or opens with errors | User | No server retention applies to an item that exists only in the file | Medium to high if you repair the only copy |
| Exchange or Microsoft 365 mailbox | Server-side copy or retention hold may exist | Mailbox administrator for some operations | Organization policy, not a universal period | Low when the administrator exports a PST first |
Do not start by repeatedly compacting, importing, or repairing the only PST. Every write operation can change the evidence you still need to examine. Make a working copy before any repair attempt; an external hard drive for PST backup protects that copy, but storage alone cannot restore a missing message.
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Recover a message from Deleted Items or Junk Email
Microsoft identifies Deleted Items and Junk Email as the first places to look for accidentally deleted Outlook items. This route is the safest because Outlook still has the message as a normal item.
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- Open Outlook and select the mailbox or PST that contained the message.
- Open Deleted Items. If you do not see it there, open Junk Email; a filtering rule may have moved the message instead of deleting it.
- Search using a distinctive sender, subject word, recipient, or date. Search each relevant account and data file rather than assuming the first result is the correct copy.
- Open the message to verify its sender, recipients, attachments, and date.
- Move it to the intended folder. Use the message’s Move command or drag it to a folder that is not subject to automatic deletion.
If the message appears in a search result but cannot be opened, record the folder and subject before closing Outlook. That information helps an administrator or a later PST inspection locate the correct item.
Use Recoverable Items after Deleted Items was emptied
Emptying Deleted Items does not always remove a message immediately. Supported accounts can place deleted items in a hidden Recoverable Items area until the mailbox’s retention policy removes them. Microsoft gives examples such as 30 days followed by another 14 days, but those are policy examples, not a universal Outlook guarantee.
New Outlook
- Open Deleted Items.
- Choose Recover items deleted from this folder.
- Select the message or messages. Check the sender, subject, and received date before restoring.
- Choose Restore.
- Return to Deleted Items, locate the restored message, and move it to the final folder.
The recovery command is available only when the account and its service support it. If the command is missing, the account may be a local-only PST, an unsupported account type, or subject to an administrator-controlled recovery process.
Classic Outlook
- Open the Deleted Items folder for the affected account.
- On the folder ribbon, choose Recover Deleted Items From Server.
- Select the message and choose Restore Selected Items (the exact wording can vary by Outlook build).
- Check Deleted Items after the restore, then move the message to its permanent folder.
Classic Outlook must be online for this server command, and the account must support it. A local PST does not acquire a server-side Recoverable Items store merely because it is opened in Outlook.
Where a recovered message goes
Restored items do not necessarily jump directly back to the folder you remember. Microsoft states that Recoverable Items restores normally move the message to Deleted Items. Move it from there to the final folder yourself. When Outlook can identify the original folder, it may return the item there; otherwise, it can place the message in the Inbox. Check both locations before concluding that recovery failed.
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After restoring, inspect attachments and conversation history. A recovered item may be an earlier copy, a reply without its attachment, or a duplicate created by an import. Preserve the restored message before deleting any duplicate.
Repair a damaged local PST with ScanPST
Use Microsoft’s Inbox Repair Tool, Scanpst.exe, when the local PST is damaged or Outlook reports that the data file cannot be opened or has inconsistencies. Microsoft describes the tool as being designed to repair problems associated with personal folder (.pst) files. It is not a forensic undelete program: it can make a damaged file readable and may recover orphaned items, but it cannot recreate data that no longer exists.
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Prepare a safe working copy
- Close Outlook completely. Also close other programs that may be using the PST.
- Locate the PST in Windows Explorer. If you have more than one PST, note each file’s name and size so you repair the correct one.
- Copy the original PST to another drive or a separate folder. Keep the original read-only in practice: do not rename, compact, or repair it.
- Work on the copy. If the copy is on an external hard drive, disconnect or preserve the original drive after the copy finishes so an accidental overwrite cannot affect it.
Do not delete the original after ScanPST reports success. The repaired file and the original answer different questions: the repaired file may be usable, while the original may still contain fragments that a later specialist needs.
Run the Inbox Repair Tool
- Find and start
Scanpst.exefrom the Microsoft Outlook installation. If Windows search shows multiple copies, use the one associated with the Outlook installation that opens the affected PST. - In the tool, browse to the working-copy PST and select it.
- Start the scan. Let it finish before attempting to open the file in Outlook.
- Confirm that the option to create a backup of the original PST is selected. Microsoft says this backup option is automatically selected when Inbox Repair Tool runs; do not clear it.
- Choose Repair and wait for the repair to complete. Large or severely damaged files can take time, and interrupting the process can leave you with an incomplete result.
- Record the result shown by the tool, including whether errors were found and repaired. A successful repair message means the structure was processed, not that every deleted message was recovered.
Open the repaired PST and inspect every copy
After repair, open the repaired data file in Outlook rather than replacing the original immediately. In classic Outlook, use File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File, then select the repaired PST. If Outlook asks whether to use the file as a data source, keep the original and repaired files clearly named so you do not confuse them.
- Expand every top-level folder, including Deleted Items, Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Archive, and any custom folders.
- Search the repaired PST for the sender, subject, recipient, and approximate date. Try more than one search term because a damaged item may have incomplete metadata.
- Open candidate messages and verify their body, attachments, and headers. Copy valid messages to a new, healthy folder or export them separately.
- Inspect the automatically created ScanPST backup as well. Microsoft notes that this backup may contain additional items that ScanPST could not recover.
- Import or open the backup PST in Outlook and repeat the folder-by-folder search. Do not overwrite the repaired file with the backup; compare them and keep both until the recovery is complete.
If Outlook opens the repaired PST but displays an empty folder, wait for indexing to finish and search manually through the folder tree. A message can be present without appearing in an immediate search result when its index or properties were damaged.
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What ScanPST can and cannot recover
What it can help with
- Repairing PST structural inconsistencies that prevent Outlook from opening the file.
- Reconnecting folders or items that became orphaned during a file error.
- Making some readable message fragments available after a structural repair.
- Producing a backup that may contain items the repaired copy does not show.
What it cannot promise
- It cannot guarantee recovery of a message that was permanently deleted or overwritten.
- It does not bypass an Exchange or Microsoft 365 retention policy.
- It cannot restore an attachment or message body that was never stored in the PST.
- It is not a substitute for a backup or for server-side mailbox recovery.
Microsoft warns that if the original PST could not be opened before ScanPST was run, the documented procedure may not recover additional information. Severe corruption can therefore produce a readable file with missing messages, even when the repair itself completes without an error.
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Contact the mailbox administrator when the message belonged to an Exchange Server or Microsoft 365 mailbox and it is absent from both Deleted Items and Recoverable Items, or when the recovery command is unavailable. Administrators may have server-side deleted-message recovery options that are not exposed to ordinary users. They can also use PST mailbox export and import operations to preserve a mailbox, examine a separate copy, or return recovered items without changing the user’s original data.
Give the administrator the most precise information you have: account address, sender, subject, approximate date, original folder, and the time you noticed the deletion. Ask whether a retention hold, litigation hold, or other organization policy applies. Do not assume that a mailbox-wide retention period is the same for every folder or account; policy determines how long Recoverable Items remains available.
Retention windows and permanent deletion
Recovery is time-sensitive. Deleted Items can be emptied manually or by an automatic policy. Recoverable Items can also be purged when the account’s retention window ends. Microsoft’s published examples illustrate how one policy might provide an initial period and then an additional period, but Outlook does not have one retention duration that applies to every account, region, edition, or organization.
- If the item is still in Deleted Items or Junk Email, move it immediately.
- If Recoverable Items is available, restore before changing mailbox settings or running cleanup.
- If the item exists only in a local PST, preserve the file before attempting repair.
- If every copy has been purged or overwritten, recovery may be impossible without an independent backup.
Troubleshoot common recovery outcomes
The recovery command is missing
Check that you are online and looking at a supported account’s Deleted Items folder. The command is not expected for a standalone local PST. If the account is managed by an organization, ask the administrator whether the feature is disabled or governed by a different retention process.
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The message restores but is not in the expected folder
Look in Deleted Items first, then Inbox and the original folder. Recoverable Items restores commonly pass through Deleted Items, and Outlook may use the Inbox when it cannot identify the original location.
ScanPST finds errors but the PST still will not open
Close Outlook, verify that you are repairing a copy, and run the tool again on that copy. Do not run repeated repairs on the only original. If the file remains unreadable, keep the original and ScanPST backup intact and escalate to an administrator or a specialist recovery service.
The PST opens, but the deleted message is absent
Search all folders, including custom archive folders and the ScanPST backup. If neither file contains the message and it was not available through Recoverable Items, the PST may never have stored that item or the data may have been permanently removed.
The recovered message has missing attachments
Check the original message’s Sent Items copy, conversation replies, and any separate attachment folder. A PST repair can expose the message record without restoring a damaged attachment payload. Preserve the recovered body and headers even if the attachment remains unavailable.
Quick Recap
Prevent the next PST loss
- Keep more than one backup of important PST files, with at least one copy disconnected from the computer.
- Back up before archiving, importing, compacting, or moving a large PST.
- Do not store the only copy in a location that synchronizes or rewrites files while Outlook is open.
- Periodically open a backup copy in Outlook so you know the backup is readable.
- Move recovered mail out of Deleted Items immediately and use a clearly named permanent folder.
- For organization mailboxes, ask the administrator which retention and export options apply before a deletion occurs.
Recovery checklist
- Search Deleted Items and Junk Email.
- Use Recoverable Items in new or classic Outlook when the account supports it.
- Check Deleted Items, Inbox, and the original folder after restoring.
- For a local PST, close Outlook and make a copy before repair.
- Run ScanPST on the copy with its automatic backup option enabled.
- Open the repaired PST and inspect the ScanPST backup separately.
- If the message is still missing, ask an Exchange administrator about server-side recovery, retention, or PST export.
- Accept that permanently deleted or severely damaged data may be unrecoverable.
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