How to Recover Deleted Emails on Outlook 2000

There are several ways deleted emails can be recovered with Outlook 2000.

If you have accidentally deleted an email in Microsoft Outlook 2000, it can easily be recovered from the Deleted Items folder. If the Deleted Items folder has been emptied, and you do not have a Microsoft Exchange account, you cannot recover the deleted email without extreme technical knowledge or third party retrieval software. However, if you are using a Microsoft Exchange account you have seven days to retrieve the deleted email using the Recover Deleted Items option. Most personal and home versions do not use Exchange accounts, but you can take steps to ensure that your Deleted Items folder doesn't auto-empty.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2000. If you have an Outlook desktop icon, click it. Otherwise, select "All Programs" from the "Start" menu, then scroll to Microsoft Outlook and click it.

2. Open the "Deleted Items" folder from either the Outlook shortcuts or the folder list by clicking on the icon or folder. To display the shortcuts, select"Outlook Bar" from the "View" menu. To display the folder list, select "Folder List" from the "View" menu.

3. Select the email message you want to recover. From the list of email messages, click to highlight the email message you want to keep.

4. Move the email. There are a few ways to do this. From the "Edit" menu, select "Move to Folder." You can also press "Ctrl," "Shift" and "V" simultaneously to achieve the same effect. The "Move Items" window will appear. Click to select the folder you want to move the email to and then click "OK." An even easier method is to simply click the email in the "Deleted Items" folder and, while holding down the mouse button, drag it to the appropriate folder. You have now recovered your deleted email.

5. Retrieve the permanently deleted email. If the "Deleted Items" folder has been emptied within the last 7 days and you have an Exchange account, perform steps 1 and 2 and then select "Recover Deleted Items" from the "Tools" menu. In the window that displays, select the email to be recovered and then click the "Recover Deleted Item" icon in the toolbar. The deleted email is placed in the "Deleted Items" folder. Close the window and continue with steps 3 and 4.

6. Disable "Automatically Empty Deleted Items Folder on Exit." From the "Tools" menu, select "Options." In the window that displays, click the "Other" tab. In the "General" section, uncheck the checkbox next to "Empty the Deleted Item Folder upon Exiting" and then click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• If you are unsure whether you will need an email in the future, instead of deleting it, create a folder to store it in. You can name the folder by recipient or project or any other way you will remember the contents.

• If your Deleted Items folder is set to automatically empty the folder on exit and you are not using an exchange account, you will not be able to recover an email once you close Microsoft Outlook.

References

• University of Buckingham: How do I recover an email I've accidentally deleted?
• Microsoft: How to recover or to purge deleted items in Outlook 2000 Corporate Workgroup