Why don't some deleted emails go into the Deleted Items folder?

[JB]

I'm using Outlook 2003.

At the end of every month, I move all emails from that month still in my
Inbox and Sent Items folders into new folders called Inbox 2007-01, Inbox
2007-01, etc, and Sent 2007-01, Sent 2007-02, etc. It works great as a sort
of quick monthly mini-archive. If I can't find an important email in a
subject or issue folder, I can always find it by figuring out when I sent or
received it.

The problem is, yesterday I accidentally deleted a very important email from
the Sent 2007-06 folder. And it just disappeared completely. It did NOT go
into the Deleted Items folder. It just disappeared completely.

Just to be sure, I deleted another message - an unimportant one - from the
same folder. It also completely disappeared. Where do these emails go? How
can I get them back?

I've looked for help on his but the only thing I've found in the KB is a
modification of the Registry which allows Tools/Recover Deleted Items in any
folder, not just Deleted Items . Unfortunately, that only works on an
Exchange Server setup. I'm on my home computer. And I don't even see
"Recover Deleted Items" in my Tools menu when I'm in the Deleted Items
folder.

Googling, I found a technique of deliberately corrupting the pst file, which
will reset it with ALL deleted emails when it's recreated. But that seems
really drastic and dangerous, not to mention who needs all those deleted
files. I just want the one.

Any help? Thanks

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

First -- have you tried using Advanced Find over your whole set of Personal
Folders to see if the e-mail might have gone to some other folder somehow?

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please reply
only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***

 

[JB]

Dear Jocelyn:
Thank you for responding. I hope you will stay with me until this is
resolved.

Advanced Find was the first thing I tried. I have several accounts as well
as the default account, and even though it seems impossible that deleted
messages from the default account would be moved on deletion to any other
account, I took the extra step of checking every other accounts as well in
Advanced Find. No cigar. The emails are just GONE.

Luckily the person I sent the email to still had a copy and sent it back to
me, so the urgency is off this particular problem. But I'm not satisfied. I
don't want mail completely disappearing if I accidentally hit "delete." It
should go to Deleted Items where it can be recovered.

Please address the underlying issue. What is happening, and how do I fix it?

Thank you.
JB

 

[JB]

Dear Jocelyn,

Thank you for responding. I hope you will stay with me until this is resolved.

Advanced Find was the first thing I tried. I searched ALL my accounts, too,
not just the default one, one at a time in Advanced Find - though the idea
that a deleted item would somehow migrate out of the default account to
another account seems completely nuts.

Luckily, the recipient of the original message was able to send me back a
copy. So the urgency of this particular problem is taken care of. But I'm
still concerned about this. Mail that I accidentally delete shouldn't just
completely disappear - it should go to Deleted Items where it can be
recovered.

Please address the underlying issue. What's going on and how can I fix it?

Thank you.
JB

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

When you say you checked all your "accounts" I assume you mean all of your
message stores, i.e. all Personal Folders Files and Exchange mailboxes open
in Outlook at the time these messages are disappearing. E-mail accounts are
something else entirely, but they really don't have any pertinence to this
problem.

Do you have any 3rd party addins running that may be moving or deleting
files? How about rules? Is a virus scanner set to scan your e-mail?

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please reply
only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***

 

[Deb Borys]

Jocelyn, did this issue ever get resolved? because I had the same problem
today. When I delete items from my Sent folder, they do not go to my Deleted
folder. Unlike the original poster, I do have MS Exchange.

There are no rules or 3rd party software managing my email. It has nothing
to do with a virus scanner. Any ideas?

Deb Borys

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello]

I haven't heard anything further from the original poster besides what is
already in this thread. Have you asked your Exchange administrator about
this?

--
Jocelyn Fiorello

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please reply
only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***