In Microsoft Outlook, why is my Exchange email disappearing from my Inbox at work after I read it at home?

If you have an Exchange account, your mailbox stores your email directly on the server so you can get to your stored email messages from any computer. However, when you connect to the Exchange server using Outlook with mail delivery directed to your personal folders, unread mail will be moved into the Inbox of your personal folders instead of being stored on the Exchange server. To change this behavior:

Outlook 2007

1. From the Tools menu, select Account Settings... , and then click the Data File tab.
   
   
2. Click Mailbox - Your name, and then click Set as Default.
   
   
3. When you get a message saying you have changed the default location for your email messages, click OK.
   
   
4. Close the Account Settings window, and then restart Outlook.

Outlook 2002 or 2003

1. From the Tools menu, select E-mail Accounts... .
   
   
2. Select View or change existing email accounts, and then click Next.
   
   
3. Next to "Deliver new email to the following location:", from the drop-down menu, select Mailbox - Your last name, Your first name. Click OK.

Outlook 2000

1. From the Tools menu, select Services... .
   
   
2. Select the Delivery tab. Next to "Deliver new mail to the following location:", select Mailbox - Your last name, Your first name. Click OK.

Using personal folders

To move messages already stored in personal folders back to the server mailbox, drag them from your personal folder to a folder in the mailbox. For instructions, see In Microsoft Outlook, how do I move one or more messages to another folder? If you cannot see the list of folders, from the View menu, select Folder List.

Note: If your personal folders are only on your home computer, you will have to use your home computer to do this.

Once you've redirected your mail to your Exchange mailbox, you can still use your personal folders to permanently store or make copies of your email messages on your computer.

Recovering deleted messages

If you are looking for an email message that you deleted from your personal folders, you may be able to recover it. For instructions, see At IU, how can I recover deleted items in Outlook if I am an IU Exchange user?

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