Unable to see emails older than a year old

Anon 0 Reputation points
2026-09-15T21:15:21.62+00:00

I went through this article to try to solve my issue but I am unable to see emails older than a year even through the online version.

scanpst found that the ost file had errors. When I click repair, the errors do not fix.

This being the case, shouldn't I see emails older than 1 year on the web version of outlook?

I was also concerned about someone getting into my account, so I checked the login activity of the account and found there were no entries besides the current login session.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home
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  1. Kai-H 26,950 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-16T10:56:00.8166667+00:00

    Hi, Anon

    Since messages older than one year are also missing in Outlook on the web, the damaged OST is probably unrelated. The messages may have been moved, deleted by a rule or retention policy, or omitted from broad search results.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Expand every folder under Archive or In-Place Archive/Online Archive. Search inside that archive folder directly using a known sender, subject, or date. Broad searches can omit older messages when too many results are returned, so use a narrow date range or specific keywords.

    Open Deleted Items, then select Recover items deleted from this folder. Messages may remain recoverable even after disappearing from Deleted Items.

    In Outlook on the web, check Settings > Mail > Rules and Sweep settings for anything that automatically moves or deletes older mail.

    For a work or school account, ask the Microsoft 365 administrator to check the mailbox’s retention policy, Online Archive, and audit log. Retention policies can move messages to an archive or delete them, while audit records can identify deletion activity and the account responsible.

    The clean recent-activity page is reassuring, but it does not rule out an automatic rule or retention policy.

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-15T21:15:37.6866667+00:00

    Yes. If the account is Exchange, Outlook.com, or IMAP and the older mail still exists on the server, older messages should be visible in Outlook on the web. If they are not visible there either, the issue is not just the local .ost cache.

    For the .ost error specifically:

    1. Close Outlook.
    2. Go to %localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook.
    3. Find the .ost file that reported errors.
    4. Delete that .ost file.
    5. Start Outlook and let it download the mailbox again from the server.

    This is the recommended resolution for corrupted .ost files in Outlook 2013 and later. Scanost.exe is no longer used in Outlook 2010 and later, and if Scanpst.exe does not successfully repair the .ost, the supported next step is to rebuild the .ost by deleting it and letting Outlook recreate it.

    Important: if there is any local data that is not on the server, export that data to a .pst before deleting the .ost, then after Outlook downloads the server data again, import the .pst by using Do not import duplicates.

    If the problem is specifically that Outlook search cannot find older mail in classic Outlook, also check the local sync window:

    1. Open classic Outlook.
    2. Select File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
    3. On the Email tab, select the account and select Change.
    4. Move Download email for the past: to a longer period or All.
    5. Select Next and Done, then restart Outlook.

    That setting affects what is cached locally for indexing. It does not explain older mail missing from Outlook on the web.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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