New emails going to deleted items after account hacked

Question

New emails going to deleted items after account hacked

Aline Nguyen 0

My email was hacked a few days ago, sending a paperless post to everyone. Now, all new e-mails are going to my deleted items folder. I have changed my passwords. I checked the settings->mail->rules but I do not understand the rules as they are in symbols but I do not see anything written that says new emails are going to my deleted items folder. How do I change this back to normal?

Thank you.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi Aline Nguyen,

Changing the password was an important first step, but it does not automatically remove mailbox settings that may have been added while the account was compromised.

Since every new message is going directly to Deleted Items, I would focus first on removing any settings you do not recognize:

Open Outlook.com in a browser and go to Settings > Mail > Rules. Delete any rule that you did not create, including rules with unreadable names, symbols, or unclear conditions.
Check Settings > Mail > Forwarding and turn off any forwarding address you do not recognize.
Review Automatic replies and any Sweep settings that may have been created.
Send a test message to the account after making these changes.
Check the Microsoft account Recent activity page and mark any unfamiliar sign-ins as This wasn’t me. Also review the security email addresses, phone numbers, and devices connected to the account.

It would also be advisable to run a full malware scan and enable two-step verification or Microsoft Authenticator.

Microsoft’s official guidance for compromised accounts is available here: How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account

Once the automatic deletion has stopped, check Deleted Items and use Recover items deleted from this folder if any messages are missing. Thank you so much for your understanding.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 2

This is commonly caused by a malicious inbox rule, a blocked sender entry, or an ignored conversation left behind after the account was compromised. Since the password was already changed, the next step is to remove anything still redirecting mail.

In Outlook.com, go to Settings > Mail > Rules.
Review the rules and delete any rule that:
- moves messages to Deleted Items
- deletes messages
- forwards messages elsewhere
- has an unusual name, including symbols only
If the rules are unclear or appear suspicious, delete all custom rules and then test with a new incoming message.
Go to Settings > Mail > Blocked senders and domains.
- Remove any legitimate sender or domain that appears there.
- Add important senders to the Safe senders list if needed.
Check whether the affected messages are part of an ignored conversation. If messages from the same thread keep going to Deleted Items, Outlook may be using the Ignore feature for that conversation.
If mail is going to Junk first or disappearing unexpectedly, check for blocked senders and mark valid messages as It’s not junk.
Because the account was hacked, also review the account for suspicious inbox rules that move messages to Junk Email, Notes, or RSS Subscriptions, since those are common signs of compromise.

If the issue continues after removing suspicious rules and blocked senders, use Outlook.com support from Help in the menu bar and select Still need help?