How to restore sent folder in outlook

Q: Why have all my sent emails disappeared?

Its possible that someone logged in and deleted or moved your emails or that your email filters have moved them. Check your other folders, especially Spam and Trash.

Outlook is considered the best email handling platform not only due to its vast number of features supportable to the business, but its security features where the emails get the highest priority in conducting the communication. Whenever the user sends an email, then the copy of the mail is present in the sent items folder where the sender can check that the email has been sent. But, when the sent email is not present in the sent items folder, then it creates worry regarding a successful communication.

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Methods to recover the missing sent items
Why did my sent emails disappear in Outlook?
Why have all my sent emails disappeared?

As there can be several reasons behind such occurrence, so it is not fair to put the blame on the single reasons. Here are some reasons that stop the copy the sent mail in the sent items –

The email was not sent actually. You should check the outbox folder incase the email is stuck there. Then you can resend the email.
The email copy has been deleted from the sent items folder due to mishandling or deliberate attempt from other user. Check the Deleted items folder.
The ‘Save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder’ has been disabled in Outlook.

Methods to recover the missing sent items

Method 1. Enable the option to save the copy of messages in the sent items folder.

Because the given option is disabled, so there is no chance of getting the email in the required folder. So, you should enable the option as soon as you want to save the sent emails.

Click File in Outlook application menu bar.
Click Options that will open the Outlook options wizard.
Go to Mail category and in the Save Messages, click the checkbox to Save copies of messages in the Sent Items folder.
Restart Outlook and try to send a test email.

Method 2. Manage the Outlook Group Policy Settings.

The Outlook Group Policy settings control the email handling on a deeper level. You need to make sure that the E-mail options are working as per your control.

In the Outlook 2016, you need to follow the below path to reach to the E-mail options.

User Configuration/Administrative Templates/Microsoft Outlook 2016/Outlook Options/Preferences/E-mail Options

After opening the E-mail options wizard, go to Message handling and click Enabled that will enable the policy. There is same option with the checkbox to keep the copies of messages in the sent items folder. Click Apply.

Method 3. Clean out the older emails.

Outlook gives many settings to manage the email in a certain way. One feature is to get rid of older emails to get more space for the new emails. When the user has not fixed the properties for any folder, then the emails will continue to grow in number and there will not space for the new ones.

Go to Sent Items folder, right-click it. Then choose Properties.
Go to AutoArchive tab and enable the option to Archive this folder using these settings. Then select ‘Clean out items older than’, then set the period.
At last, use the option ‘Permanently delete older items’ and click Apply.

Method 4. Set another folder to receive the sent items.

When you are going to compose a new mail, then you can set the option to Save the Sent item to a different folder than the default one.

Click New Email and go to Options tab.
In the Save Sent Items to, and click another folder in the drop down.
Select another folder than the original one to save the sent mail.

Method 5. Repair the corrupt Outlook data file.

When the corruption hits the Outlook information, then it makes the emails inaccessible. The corrupt emails can affect the overall mailbox and soon the Outlook will start to show the errors.

If the emails are not present in their respective even when the settings are properly done, then you should look for free PST repair methods to recover Outlook items. Generally, the Inbox Repair Tool can help you to recover the files in the smaller scale. When Inbox Repair Tool fails in recovering the emails, then you should use a professional Outlook recovery tool to repair the corrupt PST file.

A professional Outlook PST repair tool is able to scan the PST file including multiple mailboxes and their properties. After recovery, you can save the data in the available formats and filter settings.

The email application Microsoft Outlook is installed in every installation of Microsoft Office. For Windows users, its a stripped-down version called Microsoft Outlook Express. Both of these applications save any deleted emails so you can retrieve them if needed. This is beneficial for people who accidentally delete email or realize a deleted email is still needed several days later.

Step 1

Click the Windows Start button and select "All Programs." In the list of icons. Select "Microsoft Outlook." You may also have a Microsoft Outlook icon on the desktop or on your tool bar next to the start button.

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Step 2

Click the "Sent" items directory on the left window pane. The "Sent" directory holds all the emails you've sent until you delete them. Verify that you deleted the item.

Step 3

Click the directory icon labeled "Deleted Items." This directory holds all the emails you've deleted whether intentionally or accidentally. The list is grouped by date, but you can click the "Subject" bar or the "From" bar to sort them by subject or by sender.

Step 4

Right-click the email you want to restore. Select "Move to Folder." A dialog box appears with a list of folders included in your Outlook email client.

Step 5

Select the folder to move the email message and restore it. Once selected, click the "Ok" button. The email message is restored and removed from the deleted list.

Why did my sent emails disappear in Outlook?

It is possible that the maximum storage is been used by the Sent Items folder and that could be the reason why your Outlook sent items folder is missing. Therefore, we suggest you removing some older emails to make space for the recently sent emails.

Why have all my sent emails disappeared?

It's possible that someone logged in and deleted or moved your emails or that your email filters have moved them. Check your other folders, especially Spam and Trash.