Can I get back deleted items from outlook on Windows 10s?

This is far more complicated than this heading sounds. My wife had a Lenovo Think Pad, which was slow. So I bought her a laptop, I set it up with her email address, that she had been using on the Lenovo. That was a couple of years ago and untill I recently came across the Lenovo it had been long forgotten.But now I had a use for it, I though I could use it to show videos of walks in the forest or tai chi, when I'm exersizing. So I started to clear all the stuff I didn't need, I started in Outlook, my wifes email client. I deleted evrything except her email address. That night she turned on her laptop only to find that everything in her emaill account had been wiped. Although I was surprised that this had happened, I said no problem just go to BT (British Telecom) our email provider and and download everything back to your laptop. However when she went to BT she found everything had also been wiped from there too?!!

 

Have you ever come accross anything like this before? And for starters, how can I get it all back.

 

Unless you work for MI5 or the secret service once you fully delete an email on a PC they are gone for good, they may still be around on your networks servers but as said you need to have serious clout to be getting anywhere near your ISPs servers.

 

Have to ask, you have checked the deleted files/trash can in the said email account be it yahoo or Google etc.

 

Side note, unless you had set the two computers for file sharing the only way to delete such data would be if you were signed into the wifes email account on the Windows 7 Lenovo.

 

Edit to add: To check in the junk folders etc see Recover and restore deleted items in Outlook

Edited by PhillPower2, 12 December 2025 - 08:22 AM.

If this is a pop or imap account, there is a setting in the Outlook desktop client to leave messages on the server for a defined period of time. After that time, the messages are gone. Moving forward, you can check and adjust that setting as follows:
 
go to File - Account Settings - Account Settings - double-click your account - then More Settings * Advanced, and check "Leave a copy of messages on the server" and set the number of days to retain

 

If it's an Exchange or 365 account, do the following:

 

File - Options - Mail - Message Options - Mark as expired after....

I wondered if Outlook still stored email data locally, at least to a limited extent. So I asked Perplexity.

Here's what it said:

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Outlook data storage has shifted for modern configurations, but some options still exist depending on the setup you use.

Cloud-first (recommended for Microsoft 365/Exchange Online): Mailbox data resides on Microsoft servers in the cloud. Local copies may be cached on the device via an OST file for offline access, but the authoritative data source is the cloud mailbox. This means most items are stored and backed up on the server, with the local cache used only to enable quick access and offline work.​

Local PST files (older or manual archiving): You can still create and store PST files locally to archive or move data, but in the newer “New Outlook” experiences and in many organizational setups, PST usage is discouraged or unsupported for primary mail data. PST files are separate from the server mailbox and require manual backup and migration if used.​

OST/cache behavior: In cloud-focused setups, Outlook uses an offline cache file (OST) that mirrors the server mailbox. The OST is not the primary data store; it’s a cached copy that syncs with the server. Server data remains the authoritative source.​

Practical takeaways

If using Microsoft 365/Exchange Online, your email data primarily lives on Microsoft servers with local caching via OST for offline access.​

PST files are still available for local archiving or migrating older data, but are not the primary storage method in modern cloud-first deployments.​

For backup strategies, rely on server-based backups from the Exchange/Microsoft 365 side, rather than backing up only local PSTs, especially in cloud environments.

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Thus, it may be possible to use third-party tools to recover some of that data, if you can find the .OST / .PST files.
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Edited by Shplad, 12 December 2025 - 11:24 AM.

Thus, it may be possible to use third-party tools to recover some of that data, if you can find the .OST / .PST files.
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Well, not really. If using a .pst file, then that's what Outlook opens to in the inbox using the .pst and it will show you what it contains in all folders (inbox, deleted, junk, etc). If there are emails there, you'll know it. With a .ost file (exchange / 365), if there are old emails on the MS server, you can click on "Click Here To View More On Microsoft Exchange". If that link is not visible at the bottom of the folder you are viewing (inbox, deleted, etc), then there's nothing you can retrieve from the MS server.

Edited by Allan, 12 December 2025 - 11:36 AM.

I'm not so sure of that. With old versions of Look out! er...I mean Outlook, if you deleted files from all folders, but hadn't compacted your mailbox yet, some of the data could still be there. Similar to the way on a hard drive when you delete files, but not the data, the filesystem tables might show the files as deleted, but the data could still be there.

The OP has nothing to lose by locating and backing up some of the files I mentioned and trying to recover data from them except maybe 15 minutes of their time.

The Outlook .pst file usually be found here:

C:\Users\<YourUserAcccount>\AppData\Local\Microsoft

 

 

where "YourUserAccount" = the account under which you logged on to Windows when using Outlook.

 

 

I believe this content is still up to date:  

 

Robert365: Backup and Restore all Outlook data

 

https://robert365.com/article/backupandrestore

Edited by Shplad, 12 December 2025 - 12:54 PM.

................. just go to BT (British Telecom) our email provider and and download everything back to your laptop. However when she went to BT she found everything had also been wiped from there too?!!

The symptoms you describe are typical of an IMAP email account.

 

Like Phill suggested, did you check BT webmail's trash/Deleted items folder? If they're there then move them back to their respective folders. When your wife's Outlook next synchronises, they'll all get downloaded.

Edited by Secret-Squirrel, 14 December 2025 - 02:58 AM.

I have both bad news and good, I have just read through my question at the top of this page an d realised that I have made an error. Which is that although my wifes present laptop is using Outlook, the Lenovo is using Thunderbird? Which for me muddies the water even more. Although I think your suggestions still stand. 

 

And thanks for your suggestions everyone, however there wasn't anything helpfull at all on BT this includes the trash. But are far as far as your suggestions go I did manage to retrieve some of the lost importent stuff.

 

But I'm still left with a major problem how can I wipe my wifes email address from the Lenovo, without also wiping it from her laptop, which I feel might happen. And worse than that would it also wipe it from BT?

I have both bad news and good, I have just read through my question at the top of this page an d realised that I have made an error. Which is that although my wifes present laptop is using Outlook, the Lenovo is using Thunderbird? Which for me muddies the water even more. Although I think your suggestions still stand. 

 

And thanks for your suggestions everyone, however there wasn't anything helpfull at all on BT this includes the trash. But are far as far as your suggestions go I did manage to retrieve some of the lost importent stuff.

 

But I'm still left with a major problem how can I wipe my wifes email address from the Lenovo, without also wiping it from her laptop, which I feel might happen. And worse than that would it also wipe it from BT?

 

 

I'm not sure I understand your question. What do you mean by "wipe my wife's email address from the Lenvo, without also wiping it from her laptop"? Email addresses aren't tied to one device. The whole point of them is that in general, you can use them on any device, as long as the device/account is set to use IMAP and/or leave copies of emails on the server.

 

Please clarify.

I have both bad news and good, I have just read through my question at the top of this page an d realised that I have made an error. Which is that although my wifes present laptop is using Outlook, the Lenovo is using Thunderbird? Which for me muddies the water even more. Although I think your suggestions still stand. 

 

And thanks for your suggestions everyone, however there wasn't anything helpfull at all on BT this includes the trash. But are far as far as your suggestions go I did manage to retrieve some of the lost importent stuff.

 

But I'm still left with a major problem how can I wipe my wifes email address from the Lenovo, without also wiping it from her laptop, which I feel might happen. And worse than that would it also wipe it from BT?

If the email is being accessed using a desktop client on the Lenovo (which apparently is the case), just delete the account from Thunderbird. It will ONLY delete it from Thunderbird on that system. 

Hi Shplad

 

Well being as I was starting to wipe all of my wifes folders, emails and email address from the Lenovo. As I am intending to use it as by way of  an excersize video player for my personal use. As you already know when I started with her folders ans emails it became apparent that when I was wiping them from the Lenovo (Thunderbird) it was also simultainiously wiping them ftom her laptop  (Outlook), and what's worse BT as well!? My BT email address was created first ans as such was/is the primary. So regarding what has just gone down I can't help but be concern ed that if I wipe my wifes email address from the Lenovo it might also wipe it from everywhere else. And quite frankly it not by way of a chance that I'm prepared to take.

I lost track of what changes you'd implemented. However, the advice above is solid. If you use IMAP everything will sync. up properly. Also, why not make local backups of the emails?

 

From Perplexity.ai:

 

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Edited by Shplad, 16 December 2025 - 09:24 AM.

Hi Allen

 

"just delete the account from Thunderbird. It will ONLY delete it from Thunderbird on that system."

 

So why when I was deleting the files and folders from the Lenovo (Thunderbird) account was it also simultainiously wiping them ftom her laptop  (Outlook), and what's worse BT as well!? 

Hi Shplad

 

What you suggest is all very reasonable, however, long before all of this came to fruition I bought my wife a portable hard drive and told her it would be much safer if she kept all her banking details and passwords on that and to only connect it when It was needed. Hence the present problem when I learned that she had completely disregarded everything I said regarding the now still unused hard drive and instead keeps all those details in folders in her email client. What hope is there!

I strongly recommend against keeping banking or other critical credentials in digital format, unless you use a method of encryption to store them. I use a password manager program which encrypts in AES256. This is a solid choice until Quantum Computing becomes more available to the public.