More recoverable than most people assume — here’s where to look and in what order
Deleting a folder in Outlook — and everything in it — feels catastrophic in the moment.
Before assuming the data is gone, there are several recovery paths available, and which one applies depends on what type of Outlook account you’re using, how long ago the deletion happened, and whether you have local backups.
Work through these in order from fastest to most involved.
Check the Deleted Items Folder First
This is where Outlook puts deleted folders by default — the same place deleted emails go. When you delete a folder in Outlook, the folder and all its contents move to Deleted Items rather than being immediately destroyed.
Look in your folder list for Deleted Items. Expand it and look for the deleted folder inside. If it’s there, right-click it and select Move → Other Folder and navigate to where you want to restore it. The folder and all its contents come back exactly as they were.
If you emptied Deleted Items after deleting the folder, the contents aren’t in Deleted Items anymore — but they may not be permanently gone yet depending on your account type.
Check the Recoverable Items Folder
For Microsoft 365, Exchange, and Outlook.com accounts, deleted items don’t disappear permanently the moment you empty Deleted Items. They move to a hidden recovery area called Recoverable Items — a safety net that holds deleted content for a retention period before permanent deletion.
In Outlook desktop, go to the Deleted Items folder. In the ribbon, look for Recover Deleted Items From Server — this button appears when you’re in the Deleted Items folder and your account supports server-side recovery. Click it.
A dialog opens showing everything in the Recoverable Items area — emails and folders that were deleted from Deleted Items but haven’t yet been permanently purged. Find your deleted folder contents, select them, and click Restore Selected Items.
In Outlook on the web (outlook.com or your organization’s webmail), go to Deleted Items, then look for a link at the bottom saying Recover items deleted from this folder or similar. This opens the same Recoverable Items view.
The retention period for Recoverable Items is typically 14 days for Microsoft 365 and Exchange — longer if your organization has configured extended retention policies.
Check the Online Archive
If your organization uses an Online Archive — a secondary mailbox that stores older email — deleted folders sometimes end up there rather than being permanently removed. This depends on your organization’s archiving and retention policies.
In Outlook, look in the folder list for an Archive or Online Archive section — it appears as a separate mailbox below your primary mailbox. Expand it and look for the deleted folder there.
Use the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (For Work Accounts)
If you’re using a Microsoft 365 work account and the folder isn’t recoverable through the steps above, your IT administrator may be able to recover it. Microsoft 365 provides admin-level tools for content recovery that go beyond what individual users can access.
Contact your IT department and explain what was deleted and approximately when. Administrators can use the Exchange Admin Center and Microsoft Purview compliance tools to search for and restore deleted content — including folders — beyond the standard user-accessible retention window, depending on what policies are in place.
Don’t wait. The sooner you contact IT after a deletion, the more recovery options are available. Retention periods have hard limits and once data is permanently purged it can’t be recovered through Microsoft’s tools.
Restore From a Local PST Backup
If you use Outlook with a POP3 account or maintain local archive PST files, your deleted folder may exist in a backup copy of that PST file.
PST files are typically stored at:
C:\Users[username]\Documents\Outlook Files (Outlook 2013 and later)
C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook (older versions)
If you have a recent backup of your PST file — on an external drive, a cloud backup service, or a network location — you can open the backup PST in Outlook and copy the deleted folder back out of it.
To open a backup PST in Outlook, go to File → Open & Export → Open Outlook Data File and navigate to the backup copy. The backup PST appears as a separate mailbox in your folder list. Find the deleted folder inside it, right-click, and move or copy it back to your main mailbox.
Use Windows File History or System Restore
If you don’t have a deliberate PST backup but Windows File History or a third-party backup was running, a previous version of your PST file may be recoverable through Windows.
Right-click your PST file in File Explorer and select Restore Previous Versions. If File History or Windows Backup has been running, previous versions of the file are listed with dates. Select a version from before the deletion and restore it.
Be careful with this approach — restoring an older version of the entire PST file replaces the current version, meaning any emails received or sent since the backup date would be lost from the local file. Consider copying the restored PST to a different location and opening it alongside your current PST rather than replacing it.
Run ScanPST on a Corrupted PST
If a folder disappeared due to PST corruption rather than deliberate deletion, the folder may still exist in the file but be inaccessible due to damaged file structure. Microsoft’s Inbox Repair Tool — ScanPST.exe — can fix corruption and restore access to missing folders.
Close Outlook completely. Search for scanpst.exe on your computer — it’s typically in **C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16**. Run it, point it at your PST file, and click Start to scan. If corruption is found, click Repair.
After repair, reopen Outlook and check whether the missing folder has reappeared. ScanPST often recovers folders that seemed deleted but were actually just corrupted into invisibility.
Third-Party Recovery Tools
If none of the above methods recover the folder, third-party Outlook data recovery tools are the next option. These tools can scan PST files at a deeper level than ScanPST and can sometimes recover data that Microsoft’s own tools can’t.
Tools worth trying include:
Stellar Repair for Outlook — widely used and capable of recovering data from severely corrupted PST files.
Kernel for Outlook PST Repair — another established option with a free preview mode that shows what’s recoverable before you purchase.
Recuva — a general file recovery tool that can sometimes recover deleted PST files themselves if they were deleted from disk rather than just having their contents deleted from within Outlook.
These tools vary in what they can recover and their effectiveness depends on how much time has passed and whether the storage sectors containing the deleted data have been overwritten.
Prevent Future Folder Loss
Once you’ve recovered what you can, a few habits prevent this situation from recurring.
Set up regular PST backups — either manually copying the PST file to an external drive, or using a backup tool that includes the Outlook data folder in its scope. Weekly backups are reasonable for active users.
Enable AutoArchive in Outlook — this moves older emails to a separate archive PST automatically, creating a secondary copy of your data that’s independent of the main PST.
For work accounts, ask your IT department what the organization’s email retention policy is so you know how long deleted items are recoverable through server-side tools.
Consider using Outlook’s folder export feature periodically — go to File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Export to a File and export important folders to a separate PST as a deliberate backup.
A Quick Checklist
Work through these in order:
- Check Deleted Items — folder may still be there
- Recover Deleted Items From Server — click this button in the Deleted Items ribbon for Exchange and Microsoft 365 accounts
- Check Online Archive — folder may be in the archive mailbox
- Contact IT administrator — for work accounts with server-side retention
- Open a PST backup — if you have a backup copy of your data file
- Check Windows File History — for previous versions of the PST file
- Run ScanPST.exe — if the folder disappeared due to corruption
- Try a third-party recovery tool — as a last resort for deeply deleted data
The Bottom Line
A deleted Outlook folder is recoverable more often than it feels like in the moment. The Deleted Items folder and the Recoverable Items server-side retention hold deleted content for meaningful windows of time — and for Exchange and Microsoft 365 accounts in particular, the Recover Deleted Items From Server option recovers folders that most people assume are permanently gone.
The key is acting quickly — the sooner you attempt recovery after a deletion, the more options are available. Retention periods are finite, and once data passes out of the recovery window permanently, only local backups or third-party tools have any chance of getting it back.
Deleted in Outlook usually means moved, not destroyed — check every stop along the deletion path before assuming it’s gone.
Meet Ry, “TechGuru,” a 36-year-old technology enthusiast with a deep passion for tech innovations. With extensive experience, he specializes in gaming hardware and software, and has expertise in gadgets, custom PCs, and audio.
Besides writing about tech and reviewing new products, he enjoys traveling, hiking, and photography. Committed to keeping up with the latest industry trends, he aims to guide readers in making informed tech decisions.