How to recover missing emails from my Hotmail account

Question

How to recover missing emails from my Hotmail account

Jerry Sadlek 0

I am missing all of May 2026 emails in my Hotmail inbox, sent items, trash, junk folders. How do I get these missing email items back?

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marc eastham 0 Reputation points

2026-10-07T13:43:22.4+00:00

missing all 2026 emails
marc eastham 0 Reputation points

2026-10-07T13:43:37.3433333+00:00

off my mac, phone and outlook webmail
Hornblower409 16,580 Reputation points

2026-10-08T15:43:42.92+00:00

@marc eastham said

missing all 2026 emails ... off my mac, phone and outlook webmail

I understand that you have the same or similar issue to the one discussed in this thread. But you will not get any help by adding to an old post. You need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem and what steps you have already tried to fix it.

2 answers

marc eastham 0 Reputation points

2026-10-07T13:43:22.4+00:00

missing all 2026 emails
marc eastham 0 Reputation points

2026-10-07T13:43:37.3433333+00:00

off my mac, phone and outlook webmail
Hornblower409 16,580 Reputation points

2026-10-08T15:43:42.92+00:00

@marc eastham said

missing all 2026 emails ... off my mac, phone and outlook webmail

I understand that you have the same or similar issue to the one discussed in this thread. But you will not get any help by adding to an old post. You need to start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem and what steps you have already tried to fix it.

Answer 1

Alice-N 13,390 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Jerry Sadlek

I understand you’re having an issue where all emails from May 2026 are missing from your Hotmail/Outlook.com mailbox. Could you confirm:

Are you missing May mail in Outlook.com on the web, or only in an app/device?
When did you first notice the May messages were missing, and do you see anything under Recover items deleted from this folder?

I would love to hear from you soon. Have a nice day!

Alice-N 13,390 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-16T03:30:01.07+00:00

Hi Jerry Sadlek

I hope you are doing well! I just want to check if you have had a chance to check my reply earlier? Please let me know when you have time.

Have a lovely day!

Answer 2

Follow these steps in Outlook.com / Outlook on the web to try to recover the missing May 2026 messages:

Check Junk Email and Archive

Go to the Junk Email folder and look for May 2026 messages. If any belong in your inbox:
- Select the message > Not junk > Not junk (or Move to Inbox in mobile apps).
Check the Archive folder; if messages are there, select them and choose Move to > Inbox.

Clear filters and rules

In your inbox, select Filter above the message list and choose All so no date or status filter hides May 2026 mail.
Check rules that might be moving or deleting mail:
- Open Rules settings and review Inbox and Sweep rules.
- Edit or delete any rule that moves or deletes messages unexpectedly.

Check Deleted Items and recover from there

Open the Deleted Items folder and look for May 2026 messages.
If found, select them and choose Move > Inbox or another folder.
If the messages were removed from Deleted Items less than 30 days ago:
- In Deleted Items, at the top of the list select Recover items deleted from this folder.
- In the Recoverable Items view, select the May 2026 messages and choose Restore.
- Restored messages go back to their original folders when possible; if the original folder no longer exists, messages go to Inbox.

Time limits and permanent deletion

Email is automatically deleted from Deleted Items after 30 days.
Items removed from Deleted Items are only recoverable for another 30 days.
Messages in Junk Email are permanently deleted after 30 days and cannot be recovered.

Check for account or access issues

If nothing appears even after clearing filters and checking all folders, review recent sign-in activity to ensure no one else accessed and deleted mail:
- Go to the Recent activity page for your Microsoft account and review sign-ins and actions.

If the May 2026 messages are not in Junk, Archive, Deleted Items, or Recoverable Items, and the relevant 30‑day retention windows have passed, they are no longer recoverable through Outlook.com.

References: