my emails from the inbox all disappeared suddenly this morning. How can i get them back?

Anonymous
2024-02-17T10:10:38+00:00

Hi A week ago all my emails disappeared - new emails come in - but all my emails from years back - I need them for tax purposes etc - so this is really distressing.

I have a PC running on Windows 11 - One drive is connected - The emails are not in the deleted folder - nor in the archive folder - I can't find them - yet when I search one - they show up - I can search for instance an email name and then many emails will show up - but they are not in my feed. It is my outlook account.

HELP? I am not a computer wizz so maybe there is a simple trick.

Thank you Barbara Droubay

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-05-05T22:47:48+00:00

    me too...gone. idk why

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-06-06T11:00:04+00:00

    Scroll down in your Outlook Folder list to near the bottom where there is a folder called "Online Archive". You should see a replica of your folder structure and your emails should be in there. Note emails older than 6 months may be moved by your system to your 'Online Archive'. Its an automatic MS tool that helps keep your main Inbox clean and performing. Once your Inbox gets clogged up with old emails everything runs slower in your main Inbox.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-06-06T13:25:42+00:00

    yeah, sorry but that doesn't solve the problem. The archive is a mirror of the new outlook structure and not my previous file hierarchy which contains all my past emails.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-06-30T09:47:57+00:00

    This happened to me this morning and this thread filled me with dread but I found a solution from my end.

    For some bizarre reason, a filter had applied itself, I spotted it in the bottom left corner. I dont know how it got applied but when I 'cleared all filters', all my emails reappeared.

    View ribbon - View Settings - Filter - Clear All

    Hope this helps people

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-07-17T07:01:36+00:00

    I tried that and it retrieved everything in the Archive folder, however now I've lost everything in my main folder. I'm hoping that if I rename it everything will come back (ie, those bits that weren't lost before at least).

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