UD Exchange Online: Retention and Recovery

Retention of junk and deleted items

There are two automatic policies in effect for email retention.

The first policy concerns junk email. Every night the special folder labeled "Junk Email" has items older than 30 days removed.

The second policy concerns the "Deleted Items" folder. Every night items older than 30 days are removed from this folder. These items can still be recovered using the "Recover Deleted Items" option for another 14 days. We recommended that you disable the feature to automatically empty your deleted items folder from Outlook and Microsoft Outlook on the Web.

If you've deleted a message accidentally, you can recover it using the directions below.

Recover deleted messages using Microsoft Outlook (Windows)

1. Check the Deleted Items folder. You can recover the item by dragging it to another folder.
2. If you need an email that you sent to the Deleted items folder, but you've already emptied the Deleted Items folder:
   1. Select the Deleted Items folder.
   2. At the top of the message list, click Recover items recently removed from this folder.
   3. Select the messages you want to recover. 
   4. Select the Restore Selected Items radio button, and click OK.

Recover deleted messages using Microsoft Outlook on the Web (OWA)

1. From Microsoft Outlook on the Web (OWA), check the Deleted Items folder. You can recover the item by dragging it to another folder.
2. If you need an email that you sent to the recycle bin, and you've already emptied the Deleted Items folder:
   1. Select the Deleted Items folder.
   2. At the top of the message list, click Recover items recently removed from this folder.
   3. Select the recoverable items you need, and click Restore in the main window.

Disable automatically emptying deleted items in Microsoft Outlook (Windows)

1. From the File tab, choose Options, and then choose Advanced
2. Clear the Empty Deleted Items folders when exiting Outlook checkbox.
3. Click OK.

Disable automatically emptying deleted items in Microsoft Outlook on the Web (OWA)

1. From Microsoft Outlook on the Web (OWA), choose Settings (wheel icon), and then click Mail from the Your app settings section.
2. Click Message options
3. Clear the Empty Deleted Items folder when I sign out checkbox.
4. Click OK.