Recover a Deleted Email

Applies to: All CRL staff  |  Category: Email & Outlook  |  Est. time: 5 minutes

Deleted an email you needed? In most cases you can get it back yourself in a couple of minutes. There are two places to look, in order: your Deleted Items folder first, then the hidden Recoverable Items area if it’s no longer in Deleted Items.

Act promptly. Recoverable items are kept for a limited time before they’re purged for good. If a message is important and you can’t find it with the steps below, submit a helpdesk request right away — the sooner IT looks, the more likely it can be recovered.

Step 1 — Check the Deleted Items folder

In Outlook (desktop or web at https://outlook.office365.us/), click Deleted Items in the folder list on the left.

Find the message. To put it back, right-click it and choose Move → Inbox (or drag it into any folder you like).

Step 2 — Recover items deleted from this folder

If it’s not in Deleted Items — for example, you emptied the folder or pressed Shift + Delete — look in Recoverable Items:

Select the Deleted Items folder, then click Recover items deleted from this folder at the top of the message list.

Hover over a message and tick the box next to it (select as many as you need).

Click Restore. Recovered messages return to the Deleted Items folder — move them to your Inbox from there.

Tip: the list can be long. Click the date or subject column heading to sort, which makes a specific message much easier to spot.

Still can’t find it?

If the message isn’t in either place, it may have aged out of the recovery window. Submit a helpdesk request with the sender, rough date, and subject if you remember them — the more detail, the better the chance of recovery.

Next steps

For more on your CRL mailbox, see the CRL Email Accounts chapter of this knowledge base.

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