Cannot Delete Deleted Items

Moh 0 Reputation points
2026-09-14T21:17:25.7966667+00:00

My Outlook says it has 22GB of used space out of 15GB. 19.7GB of that is in Deleted Items. When I click "Empty" on Deleted Items, I get this message:

"You cannot permanently delete these items. Try deleting your recoverable items folder. If that does not work, contact your IT."

This is my personal account, not an org-tied account.

I did try deleting the recoverable items, but it did not solve it.

Help please!

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
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  1. Jhun Buala 5,720 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-15T00:23:28.6566667+00:00

    Hi Moh,

    Good day. The issue is unusual for a personal Outlook.com account. Specially since you have already tried clearing the Recoverable Items folder.

    Try to check the mailbox from Outlook on the web rather than the Outlook app:

    1. Sign in to Outlook.com and open Settings > General > Storage.
    2. Check whether the 19.7 GB is still showing under Deleted Items.
    3. If there is an option to permanently delete or empty the Deleted Items folder there, try it from this page.
    4. Also check the Recoverable items section again and make sure there isn't still a large amount of data listed there.

    If the storage page still shows around 19.7 GB in Deleted Items after you've cleared Recoverable Items, this may be a mailbox-side issue rather than something you can fix from the Outlook app.

    In that situation, I wouldn't recommend repeatedly deleting the messages, as you've already confirmed that doesn't clear the space.

    Can you screenshot the Settings > General > Storage I wanna see what shows for Deleted Items and Recoverable Items. I wanna see what the 22 GB is actually being counted to.

    Regards,
    Jhun

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