Recent MS Outlook problem

William J Kincaid 0 Reputation points
2026-10-16T15:44:05.8+00:00

Unable to use "Empty" feature for Deleted and Junk folders.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
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  1. AI answer

    2026-10-16T15:44:17.9166667+00:00

    For Outlook on the web or Outlook.com, use this sequence:

    1. Open the Deleted Items folder and select Empty folder.
    2. At the top of the message list, next to Recover items deleted from this folder, select Recover.
    3. Select Empty folder again.

    If a large number of messages were deleted, leave the browser window open while deletion finishes. If it still fails, delete a smaller batch at a time.

    For Outlook.com, Deleted Items can also be set to clear automatically when signing out:

    1. Go to Settings > Mail > Message handling.
    2. Under Message options, select Empty my deleted items folder.
    3. Select Save.

    In Outlook, deleted items are not permanently removed until the Deleted Items or Trash folder is emptied. Emptying these folders regularly helps reduce mailbox usage.


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