Junk Mail folder suddenly emptied!

Question

Junk Mail folder suddenly emptied!

Hamdi Sellami 20

This morning I have found my junk mail folder empty. I got connected to Microsoft chat 4 times and when I raise the issue, it disconnects immediately. What is wrong?

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Answer 1

Emma1-N 13,675 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Welcome Hamdi Sellami,

I understand how concerning it is to suddenly find the entire Junk Email folder empty, especially after you were unable to get assistance through chat.

Please try the step below:

Sign in to Outlook.com from a web browser and open the Junk Email folder. Let me know whether the missing messages appear there.
Check Deleted Items as well. If the messages are not there, select Recover items deleted from this folder and see whether any of the missing messages are available for restoration.
Please also let me know approximately how old the missing junk messages were.

Please let me know what you see in Outlook.com, and we can continue from there.

Hamdi Sellami 20 Reputation points

2026-10-08T07:35:34.1333333+00:00

I recovered the empty folder and what I found were the emails I deleted myself. There is nothing on Outlook web. I use GPT integration and I updated Mac the same morning. I don’t know if this is helpful.
Emma1-N 13,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-09T00:22:22.8833333+00:00
Hello Hamdi Sellami,

Since the missing emails are not present in Outlook.com or Recover deleted items, this does not appear to be only an Outlook for Mac display issue.

Could you please confirm:

Were any of the missing Junk emails less than 30 days old? Outlook.com automatically removes Junk Email after 30 days.

Which GPT integration are you using, and did you grant it permission to access or manage your mailbox?

Did all the emails disappear at once after the macOS update?
Hamdi Sellami 20 Reputation points

2026-10-09T02:23:31.89+00:00

I confirm that it was not 30 days old! I use GPT plus for drafting emails and sometimes scanning spams.
Emma1-N 13,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-10T06:54:33.7266667+00:00

Hello Hamdi Sellami,

Thank you for the additional information. I understand why the sudden disappearance of these messages is concerning.

Because GPT Plus is a third-party service, I cannot verify whether it performed any action on your mailbox.

Microsoft Q&A is a user-to-user community forum, so moderators and contributors do not have access to back-end mailbox information or activity logs. We can provide troubleshooting guidance, but we cannot determine from the forum what specifically removed the messages.
Hamdi Sellami 20 Reputation points

2026-10-10T09:33:51.13+00:00

Who can know? Since I am focusing on Responsible AI, I would really love to investigate this incident. OpenIA?