Items moved automatically from Inbox to Deleted Items

Guénaël B 0 Reputation points
2026-11-08T17:32:05.3066667+00:00

Hi, 2-3h ago most likely, ALL the emails in my Inbox were moved, without exception, to the 'Deleted Items' folder without me doing anything, neither purposely nor inadvertently. Nothing. I had no reason to move 283 items of in my personal Inbox do the Trash.

This is somehow scary. Any security threats to Outlook today? Can you investigate what happened and get back to me ?

Thanks

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy

2 answers

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  1. EmilyS726 279.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-11-08T18:30:41.66+00:00

    If it is a one-time incident, then there's a chance your account might have some kind of compromise. I don't see any trend about this issue or public information about this type of issue anywhere.

    I would suggest that you go through this list to further review and secure your account.

    Please feel free to skip any steps you have already completed, except the first step, which is very important.

    Please complete these steps on a computer, not on a smartphone or tablet.

    Step 1: Sign out everywhere FIRST

    Go to https://account.microsoft.com/security and sign in.

    Go to Manage how I sign in, scroll down, and click Sign out everywhere.

    This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still have access to your Microsoft account.

    IMPORTANT: This process can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect. This means someone who is already signed into your account may not be disconnected immediately.

    Continue the following after the 24-hour wait is over.

    ====================

    Step 2: Review your Outlook settings

    Go to https://www.outlook.com and sign in.

    Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.

    Under Mail, review the following areas:

    Rules

    If any rules are listed that you did not create, delete them. If you do not use rules at all, you can delete all of them.

    Conditional formatting

    If anything is set up there that you did not create, delete it.

    Forwarding and IMAP

    If you see any entries or settings you did not create, remove them. Turn off POP and IMAP if you do not use them.

    Junk

    Review your Safe senders and Blocked senders lists. Remove any unfamiliar entries from the Safe senders list.

    After that, exit Settings and return to Outlook.com.

    Open the To Do section by clicking the blue checkmark icon on the left side. Delete anything there that was not created by you.

    ====================

    Step 3: Review your Microsoft account

    Go to https://account.live.com.

    Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on your account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it. Be careful not to delete any legitimate email address you still use.

    Next, go to the Devices section of your Microsoft account and remove any devices you do not recognize.

    ====================

    Step 4: Secure your account

    Go to the Security section of your Microsoft account.

    Change your password to a new, strong password that you have never used before.

    Enable two-step verification.

    Go to Manage how I sign in and make sure all security contact information belongs to you.

    On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords you do not need.

    ====================

    Step 5: Review app permissions

    Go to https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/app-access.

    Review the apps that have permission to access your Microsoft account.

    Click Don't allow for anything you do not recognize or no longer use.

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  2. Guénaël B 0 Reputation points
    2026-11-08T18:28:09.67+00:00

    Hi, seems to be a one-time move. Just sent a few emails to myself from another address and it landed properly in the Inbox.

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