Tutorial: How to Recover Deleted Folders in Outlook [2 Options]

What to do if you have accidentally deleted a folder in Outlook? This post will introduces 2 options on how to recover deleted folders in Outlook.

By @Ellie Last Updated September 13, 2024

Can I retrieve deleted folders in Outlook?

“Hi, I accidentally deleted a folder in Outlook 2016. Please advise how to recover that folder. Thanks and regards.”

-Question from Quora

How to recover deleted folders in Outlook [2 cases]

Luckily, folders deleted from Outlook are recoverable. But you need to take different actions in different situations. Next, let’s see how to recover deleted folders in Outlook in the following 2 cases.

Case A. Recover accidentally deleted items in Outlook from Deleted Items/Trash

If you have accidentally deleted items in Outlook, normally, they will be moved to Deleted Items/Trash, you just need to move them out.

Step 1. Click Deleted Items/Trash (it may vary according to a different type of email account you have in Outlook).

Step 2. When you find the file/folder, right-click it, and then click Move > Other Folder.

Step 3. To move the file/folder to your inbox, click Inbox, and then click OK.

Case B. Recover folders that are not in Deleted Items/Trash

Sometimes, you may also find that are not in Deleted Items/Trash. This is because you have:

  • ✍Deleted the items from the Deleted Items/Trash.
  • ✍Emptied the Deleted Items/Trash.
  • ✍Permanently deleted the items from the Inbox or from another folder by selecting them and pressing Shift + Delete.

At this time, you need to find the deleted folders from another place. Let’s see how to retrieve deleted folder in Outlook when they are permanently deleted.

Step 1. In Outlook, go to your email folder list, and then select Deleted Items. Then click the Folder tab, and then click Recover Deleted Items.

Step 2. Select the item you want to recover, select Restore Selected Items and click OK.

Bonus tip: Best data recovery software for Windows PC  

After learning how to find a deleted folder in Outlook, we would like to give you a tip on how to recover deleted files/folders on your Windows PC. When you deleted something on your Windows PC, normally you can find them in your computer Recycle Bin. But if you have accidentally emptied the Recycle Bin, how can you retrieve permanently deleted files/folders?

You can use the most recommended data recovery software MyRecover.

MyRecover
  • Retrieve deleted files from hard drives, SSDs, SD cards, USB flash drives, and other storage devices, both internal and external.
  • Support for recovering files that have been formatted, permanently deleted, or in other situations where data loss may occur.
  • Recover deleted or lost Word documents, PPT presentations, PDF files, and thousands of other file types.
  • Keep the deleted files’ original file path and name.
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 Step 1. Run MyRecover on your computer > hover the mouse over the drive, and click Scan.

Step 2. The deleted/lost files will be scanned and listed in the Scanned files list. You can also search for the name of the files or folder in the search bar to find them.

Step 3. Locate and choose the lost files from the list > Click Recover x files > Choose a destination to save the files.

Closing words

This post introduces how to recover deleted folders in Outlook. Normally, there are 2 cases. If you can find the folders in Deleted Items/Trash, you can recover them directly here.

But if you have permanently deleted them, you need to find them in Restore Selected Items. It is advised to use MyRecover if you need to recover files that have been permanently deleted from a Windows computer. You can quickly and without any restrictions retrieve your files using it.