All my e-mails are going directly to my Deleted Items file.

Greg Love 20 Reputation points
2026-10-22T21:52:40.71+00:00

I had an evite spam email disrupt my e-mail. I have used Malwarebytes to clean it up. But all my e-mails are still going directly to my Deleted Items file. I have tried some suggestions by co-pilot but they have not worked. Pls help.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email
Answer accepted by question author
EmilyS726 280.2K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-10-22T22:29:41.89+00:00

Hello,

I am going to share with you the comprehensive list of things to do, please feel free to skip those you already did.

This process can take 24 hours to take effect. So please do not expect immediate results.

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

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

First, 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, delete all of them.

Conditional formatting

If anything is set up there, delete it.

Forwarding and IMAP

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

Junk

Review Safe sender and blocked list. If you don't recognize any, remove them.

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.

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

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

Under Your info > Sign-in preferences, review all aliases on the account. If you see any alias you do not recognize, remove it.

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

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

Please also do the following in Security section

Change your password

Enable two-step verification

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

Go here https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/app-access Click on "Don't allow" for anything you don't recognize.

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

Then go to Security > Manage how I sign in and make sure all contact information belongs to you.

On that same page, scroll down to App passwords and remove any existing app passwords.

Also on the same page, click on Sign out everywhere. This is intended to disconnect any active sessions that may still be connected. Please note that this can take up to 24 hours to fully take effect.

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

If you use Classic Outlook on any Windows device, do this on those devices

Close Outlook completely.

Press Win + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.

Type outlook /cleanrules and press Enter to clear and reset client-side rule stores

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  1. AI answer

    2026-10-22T21:52:56.6333333+00:00

    If new mail is going straight to Deleted Items after a spam incident, the most likely causes are a bad mail rule, blocked sender settings, or an ignored conversation.

    Try these checks in this order:

    1. Check Outlook.com rules
      • Sign in to Outlook on the web.
      • Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.
      • Remove any rule that deletes messages, moves messages to Deleted Items, or forwards mail unexpectedly.
    2. Check blocked senders and junk settings
      • In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Junk email.
      • Remove legitimate senders or domains from Blocked senders.
      • Add trusted senders to Safe senders.
    3. Check whether a conversation was set to Ignore
      • Open the Deleted Items folder.
      • Select a message from a thread that keeps getting deleted.
      • On the Home tab, select Ignore.
      • If prompted, select Stop Ignoring Conversation.
      • When a conversation is ignored, future messages in that thread are automatically moved to Deleted Items.
    4. Check for Sweep rules
      • In Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Mail > Sweep.
      • Delete any suspicious sweep rules.
    5. Secure the account after the spam event
      • Change the Microsoft account password.
      • Sign out of all sessions.
      • Review account settings for anything unfamiliar.

    If mail is going to Junk instead of Deleted Items, also mark messages as Not junk and verify the sender is not blocked.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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