Deleting email in the Inbox deletes but email remains in the Inbox.

Ron Craig 20

This is kind of driving us buggy. On my wife's laptop with Win10 and Office 2019, when she opens Outlook and receives new email she can read it and then delete it. It shows up in the Deleted Folder but also remains in the Inbox and cannot be removed from there even though she can clear the Deleted Folder. There are now about 50 or more supposedly deleted emails remaining in the Inbox Folder. We've tried running Outlook in Safe Mode with no success. This only started a couple days ago which makes me suspect there may have been an update to Office or even Windows.

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Stefan Blom 352.6K MVP Volunteer Moderator

[...] we'll also be trying to find why sent email doesn't show up in the Sent Folder.

In the classic Outlook for Windows, there is an option to save (or not save) sent messages to the Sent Items folder. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/change-where-sent-email-messages-are-saved .

Ron Craig 20 Reputation points

2026-07-08T01:53:54.66+00:00

Thank you, Stefan. The solution to the Sent Mail problem was located as a result of the Link you sent.

This is probably a duplicate response but I just wanted to say thanks.

RC
Stefan Blom 352.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-08T09:08:55.1066667+00:00

Thank you, Stefan. The solution to the Sent Mail problem was located as a result of the Link you sent.

I'm glad I could help.

This is probably a duplicate response [...]

Unfortunately, the forum's idea of thread hierarchy (as well as the distinction between Comments and Answers) makes it difficult to keep track of what has been said — and where ...

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Alice-N 13,385 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-05T03:59:34.04+00:00
Hi Ron Craig

I understand that in Classic Outlook for Windows, deleted emails move to Deleted Items but still remain visible in the Inbox. I am happy to help. Please reply with:
- Is the account Outlook.com/Hotmail, Gmail/Yahoo IMAP, POP, or another provider?
- Do the same deleted emails still appear in the Inbox when checking the mailbox through webmail?
- Does the issue happen with all deleted emails or only some messages?
- Are the duplicated/stuck emails shown as unread, read, or crossed out?
Meanwhile, follow these steps:

1) Check whether the deleted emails are still in the mailbox online

Please sign in to the same email account through webmail first, such as Outlook.com or your email provider’s website. Then check the Inbox and Deleted Items there.
- If the emails are gone from the web Inbox but still show in Classic Outlook, the issue is likely with the local Outlook data file or profile.
- If the emails are still visible in the web Inbox too, the issue is likely on the mailbox/server side, not only the Outlook app.
2) Try deleting from the web mailbox once

If the same emails still appear in the web Inbox, delete a few of them from the webmail page, empty Deleted Items there, and then restart Outlook.

See: Delete all email messages in Outlook | Microsoft Support

3) If this is an IMAP account, check the Outlook IMAP delete behavior

In Classic Outlook:
- Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
- Double-click the affected email account.
- Select More Settings.
- Open the Advanced tab.
- Check the Deleted Items settings, then test deleting again.
IMAP accounts depend heavily on server synchronization. Deleted messages can reappear if Outlook and the mail server are not applying the deletion in the same way.

4) Repair the Outlook data file

If the messages are already gone online but remain stuck in Classic Outlook, repair the local Outlook data file.

Please try the following:
- Close Outlook.
- Open SCANPST.EXE.
- Browse to the Outlook data file.
- Select Start.
- If errors are found, select Repair.
- Reopen Outlook and test deleting again.
See: Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost) | Microsoft Support

5) Recreate the local Outlook profile if repair does not fix it

If the same deleted emails still remain in the Inbox after repairing the data file, create a new Outlook profile and add the account again. This refreshes the local Outlook profile without deleting mail stored in the online mailbox.

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!

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Ron Craig 20 Reputation points

2026-07-05T15:18:29.7166667+00:00

Alice,

First off, thanks for responding.

Is the account Outlook.com/Hotmail, Gmail/Yahoo IMAP, POP, or another provider?

It is Outlook.com via Xfinity (Comcast)



Do the same deleted emails still appear in the Inbox when checking the mailbox through webmail?

They were there at first when making connection with Xfinity Webmail but they almost immediately disappeared.



Does the issue happen with all deleted emails or only some messages?

It was happening with all the messages, read or unread.



Are the duplicated/stuck emails shown as unread, read, or crossed out?

Both, read and unread.



Now, we were able to finally connect to the Xfinity Webmail and, as noted above, all the supposedly deleted emails that were still hanging out in the Inbox disappeared almost immediately. The Trash Folder was also already empty.

Now we have exited the Webmail and gone back to the regular Outlook program and all of those emails no longer appeared in the Inbox Folder. It remains to be seen now if the problem continues once again or works as normal. One thing we do notice is that any new Sent email doesn't show up in the Sent Folder. We'll have to look at that problem next I guess. :-)

I will continue looking through your suggestions to see if I can make any further sense to this Outlook problem. I sincerely appreciate your time for sending all the suggestions.

Ron Craig 20 Reputation points

2026-07-05T18:13:27.5333333+00:00

Apparently my reply was deleted for some reason but I have no idea why.

Stefan Blom 352.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-05T18:48:57.15+00:00

@Ron Craig

The spam filter is rather aggressive in the Q&A forum at times. I have restored your previous reply to Alice-N.



P.S. It is not obvious what triggers the spam filter. I removed some of your bullet points and replaced them with block quotations. I believe the spam filter will be more likely to leave those alone. Sometimes, mentioning certain third-party services frequently may also be considered spam, I think.

Ron Craig 20 Reputation points

2026-07-06T15:30:33.4633333+00:00

Thank you, Stefan. We are still evaluating the possible problem solutions provided by Alice. I guess we'll also be trying to find why sent email doesn't show up in the Sent Folder. There weren't any showing in the Webmail service either. Oh well????
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Deleting email in the Inbox deletes but email remains in the Inbox.

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