5 Ways to Recover Deleted Email Items in Outlook

Summary: In this post, we’ve discussed 3 effective ways to recover deleted email items in Outlook. Also, we’ve mentioned 2 workarounds that can help you get back the purged emails.

You can retrieve deleted emails (in Outlook 2019 and 2016) if they still exist in your 'Deleted Items' or ‘Trash' folder. And in some cases, you can even try recovering the items that have been removed from the Deleted Items folder.

Now let’s discuss in detail the methods to recover deleted email items in Outlook.

How to Recover Deleted Items in Outlook?

Following are the 3 most effective ways to recover your email items in Outlook:

IMPORTANT! Way 1 and Way 2 apply to users with an Outlook account connected to Exchange Server. They won’t work for the users having POP3 and IMAP accounts. Also, the deleted emails automatically get purged from the ‘Deleted Items’ folder when the retention period is expired (depending on the Exchange version you are using). In any such case, you can try to restore deleted emails from backup (.PST file) or using a specialized Outlook email recovery tool.

Way 1 – Recover Emails from Deleted Items Folder

All the deleted items in Outlook (like email message, email folder, calendar item, etc.) get moved to the Deleted Items folder. To recover the emails from the folder, follow these steps:

Step 1: In Outlook (2010/2013/2016/2019), from your email folder list, click on the ‘Deleted Items’ folder.

Note: In Outlook 2007, click ‘Tools’, and then click ‘Deleted Items’.

Step 2: Select the message you want to recover and click Move > Other Folder.

Step 3: In ‘Move Items’ dialog box, select the folder where you want to move the recovered emails and then click ‘OK’. For instance, the below image illustrates moving the deleted emails in ‘Recovered Items’ named folder.

The deleted emails will get restored in the selected folder.

Way 2 – Retrieve Emails Using the ‘Recover Deleted Items’ Feature

If you can’t find the emails you want to restore in the ‘Deleted Items’ folder, look for those emails in the ‘Recover Deleted Items’ folder. If you can find them, do the following:

Note: If you can't find the 'Recover Deleted Items from Server' option on the menu, your Outlook account does not support retrieving an item removed from the Deleted Items folder. In that case, skip to the next solution or try implementing Workaround 1 to resolve the issue.

Step 1: Click the ‘FOLDER’ tab from the menu and then click ‘Recover Deleted Items’.

Step 2: For recovering all the deleted Outlook emails, click on the ‘Select All’ icon (refer to the image below).

Note: Alternatively, to perform selective email recovery, choose the emails you want to restore and then click the ‘Recover Selected Items’ option.

Step 3: Once all the emails are selected, click the ‘Recover Selected Items’ option.

After executing these steps, the deleted emails will get restored in the ‘Deleted Items’ folder.

Way 3 – Use an Outlook Deleted Email Recovery Tool

If the above solutions don’t work for you, using an Outlook deleted email recovery software, such as Stellar Undelete Email for Outlook might help. The software can recover accidentally deleted or lost emails (and other mailbox items) from Outlook. It scans Outlook data files (OST/PST) and restores emails and other deleted items to a new Outlook PST file.

Workarounds to Recover Deleted Emails in Outlook

IMPORTANT! These workarounds require technical knowledge. Don’t try to attempt them if you don’t feel comfortable performing complex procedures.

Workaround 1 – Set ‘DumpsterAlwaysOn’ Registry Value
Caution! Incorrectly setting the registry value can have serious implications on your PC. So, make sure to use this workaround only if you know how to work with registry values.

If the ‘Recover Deleted Items’ option is grayed out and you have administrator privileges, set the ‘DumpsterAlwaysOn’ Registry value to 1. To do so, perform these steps:

Step 1: In Windows search bar, type ‘regedit’, and then click the ‘Registry Editor’ option.

Step 2: When the ‘Registry Editor’ window opens, browse any of these keys:

For 32-bit version of MS Outlook on a 32-bit Windows version:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options
For 32-bit version of MS Outlook on a 64-bit Windows version:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options

For 64-bit version of MS Outlook on a 64-bit Windows version:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options
Note: If you can’t find ‘Options’ key after clicking ‘Client’, you will need to create the Options key.

Step 3: After opening the key, right-click on the right pane and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Step 4: Replace ‘New Value #1’ with the name of DumpsterAlwaysOn and then set its value to 1.

Step 5: Restart Outlook to apply the changes you have made. The ‘Recover Deleted Items’ option would now become available.

Workaround 2 – Turn Your PST Corrupt and Run Scanpst
This workaround requires turning the backup of your PST file corrupt. Once the file is corrupt, run the Microsoft built-in repair utility (Scanpst) to repair the file and recover deleted items from it.

Notes:
• Make sure to make a backup copy of your Outlook .PST file before trying this workaround and implement these steps on the backup copy.

• Choose a HEX editor of your choice to perform the recovery procedure.

Step 1: Open the backup .pst file in a HEX editor. Here, we will be discussing about corrupting PST file in the “HxD” hexadecimal editor.

Step 2: In the “HxD” editor dialog box, choose block 7 through 13 from the left column.

Step 3: Click Edit > Fill Selection…> OK. This will fill the selected blocks with “00”.

Step 4: Save the PST file and exit the ‘HxD’ editor.
Now that the PST file is corrupted, run the Microsoft built-in ‘Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe)” to repair the file. Once the file is repaired, open it in Outlook and check the Deleted Items folder to find the recovered emails.

Wrapping Up!

It's common for Outlook users to delete their important emails accidentally. If you're lucky enough, you can find them in the 'Deleted Items' folder. If the emails you want to recover are not in that folder, you can look for them in the 'Recoverable Items' folder. But, if you can't find any such folder, using a professional email recovery tool for Outlook may help. Also, there are a few workarounds you can try to recover deleted Outlook emails, but they require performing a complicated procedure and sound technical knowledge. Also, the workarounds do not guarantee expected results.