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

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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If the deleted message is part of a conversation, then you may still the message in the inbox as well.

I hope this is the proper space to provide the results for problems described in my original post.

Alice, the visit we made to the Xfinity Webmail and back to Classic Outlook seems to have, at least at this point, solved whatever was causing the problem of read or unread emails to remain in the in the Inbox Folder even after they were deleted and also showed up in the Trash Folder. We aren't seeing that problem now.

Stefan, using your Link in the last post, we followed that to a point where we were able to see that none of the items were checked so I checked each one and, which included the one directing sent email to the Sent Folder, clicked to save. Returned to Outlook, shut it down and restarted it and sent emails now are showing up in the Sent Folder.

My thanks for following up on the problems and providing the suggestions to make things work again! I will make a complete copy of this whole situation so I can refer back again should something similar occur once again.