Bobby Wilson
If you deleted an email by mistake, check Trash, Bin or Deleted Items first. Most major email services move deleted messages there temporarily rather than removing them permanently straight away.
If the email is still there, you can usually restore it by moving it back to the Inbox or another folder. If it has already been removed from the deleted-mail folder, recovery depends on your email provider and may no longer be possible.
Where do deleted emails go?
When you delete an email, it will commonly move to a folder called Trash, Bin or Deleted Items.
Messages normally remain there for a limited period, although the length of that period differs between email providers. You may also be able to permanently delete a message yourself before that period expires.
A recently deleted email that is still in Trash, Bin or Deleted Items can usually be restored. A permanently deleted email has passed beyond the normal deleted-mail folder, although some providers offer an additional recovery method.
How to recover a deleted email
The basic recovery process is similar across most email services:
- Open your email account.
- Open Trash, Bin or Deleted Items.
- Find the email you want to recover.
- Select the message.
- Choose the option to move or restore it.
- Move it to the Inbox or another folder where you want to keep it.
The exact controls vary between email services and apps, but restoring a deleted message normally means moving it out of the deleted-mail folder before the provider removes it permanently.
How to recover deleted emails in Gmail
Gmail keeps deleted emails in Trash for up to 30 days. While a message is still there, open Trash, select the email and move it back to the Inbox or another label.
You can also permanently delete an email from Trash before the 30 days have passed. Gmail automatically permanently deletes messages that have remained in Trash for more than 30 days.
How to recover permanently deleted emails in Gmail
If an email has already been permanently deleted from Gmail Trash, the normal recovery process is no longer available.
Google has a separate recovery tool for messages that may have been deleted because someone accessed your account without permission. It should not be treated as a general recovery method for ordinary accidental deletion.
How to recover deleted emails in Gmail after 30 days
Emails that have been in Gmail Trash for more than 30 days are automatically permanently deleted.
This means you cannot normally restore them from Trash after the 30-day period has passed. If the messages disappeared because someone gained unauthorised access to the account, Google’s separate recovery process may provide another option, but recovery is not guaranteed.
How to recover deleted emails in Outlook
Outlook.com normally moves deleted messages into Deleted Items. If the email is still there, select it and restore or move it to the Inbox or another folder.
Microsoft automatically removes messages from Deleted Items after 30 days. Outlook.com also has an additional recovery area, so some messages can still be recovered after they have left Deleted Items.
How to recover permanently deleted emails in Outlook
If the message is no longer in Deleted Items, open that folder and look for Recover items deleted from this folder.
Microsoft says items removed from Deleted Items remain recoverable through this area for 30 days. Once the message has also passed beyond this recovery period, it may no longer be recoverable through Outlook.com.
This means emptying Deleted Items in Outlook does not necessarily make a message immediately unrecoverable.
How to recover deleted Hotmail emails
Hotmail accounts now use Outlook.com, so the same recovery process applies.
Check Deleted Items first. If the message is no longer there, use Recover items deleted from this folder to check whether Outlook still has a recoverable copy.
How to recover deleted emails in Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Mail moves deleted emails to Trash. Messages in Trash can be moved back to the Inbox or another folder while they remain there.
Yahoo automatically clears messages from Trash after 7 days. If an email has recently disappeared or been deleted, Yahoo also provides a mail restore request that may be able to restore lost or deleted messages.
How to recover permanently deleted emails in Yahoo Mail
If the email is no longer in Yahoo Trash, the normal restore process is no longer available.
Yahoo allows users to submit a restore request for mail that was lost or deleted within the previous 7 days. Yahoo does not guarantee that the messages can be recovered, so a restore request should be treated as a possible recovery method rather than a backup.
How to recover deleted emails in iCloud Mail
iCloud Mail normally keeps deleted emails in Trash for 30 days. If the message is still there, open Trash and move it back to the Inbox or another mailbox.
You can also empty Trash manually before the 30 days have passed. Apple says messages cannot be recovered after iCloud Mail Trash has been emptied.
If you access iCloud Mail through another email app, its settings can also affect when deleted messages are removed.
How to recover deleted emails on an iPhone
If you deleted an email using the Mail app on an iPhone, open Mailboxes and find the Trash or Bin mailbox for the email account the message belongs to.
Open that mailbox, find the message and move it back to the Inbox or another mailbox if it is still available.
How long the email remains recoverable depends mainly on the email provider rather than the iPhone itself. A Gmail account, Outlook account and iCloud Mail account can therefore have different recovery rules even when they are all being used through the Mail app.
Deleting an email from a synchronised account on an iPhone can also remove it from the same account on your other devices. Another phone, tablet or computer should not be assumed to contain a separate backup copy.
What if the email is not in Trash?
An email that is missing from Trash, Bin or Deleted Items has not necessarily been permanently deleted.
First, search your mailbox and make sure you are checking the correct email account. The message may have been moved to another folder or placed in Spam or Junk instead.
It may also have been archived. If a message was archived rather than deleted, it should still remain in the mailbox and may simply be missing from the Inbox.
If you still cannot find it, check whether your provider has another recovery process. Outlook.com has an additional recovery area, Yahoo offers a limited restore request, and Gmail has a separate recovery process for messages that may have been deleted following unauthorised access.
If you previously created a separate backup, export or local copy of your email, that may provide another route. Do not assume another synchronised device contains an untouched copy, because deleting an email can be reflected across devices.
Can permanently deleted emails be recovered?
Sometimes, but there is no universal way to recover a permanently deleted email.
The answer depends partly on the email provider and what stage of deletion the message has reached. Outlook.com, for example, has an additional recovery area after messages leave Deleted Items. Yahoo may also be able to restore recently lost or deleted mail through a restore request.
Other providers have stricter limits. Apple says iCloud Mail cannot recover messages after Trash has been emptied, while Gmail’s normal Trash recovery ends once a message has been permanently deleted or its 30-day Trash period has expired.
A separate backup or previously saved local copy may still contain the email if you created one before it was deleted. Otherwise, once all recovery options provided by the email service have expired, the message may no longer be recoverable.