At IU, how can I recover deleted items in Outlook if I am an Exchange user?
Note: UITS cannot recover data accidentally deleted from an individual's mailbox on the Exchange mail system. UITS will restore Exchange data only in the event of a system failure.
Recovering deleted items from the Deleted Items
folder
Note: You cannot perform the following recovery operation in Outlook for Mac OS. However, using a Windows client, the recovery feature is available regardless of the client used to delete the items, including IMAP configurations.
When you delete items (i.e., messages, folders, tasks, appointments,
or contacts) using Outlook at Indiana University, they move to the
Deleted Items folder. You may retrieve them by opening
the Deleted Items folder, locating the items, and then
moving them to another folder. When items are deleted or emptied from
the Deleted Items folder, they are recoverable for 15
days, then permanently deleted. However, you can recover items during
the 15-day holding time. Follow the directions below to recover items
from the 15-day retention area:
- Open the
Deleted Itemsfolder, and from theToolsmenu, selectRecover Deleted Items....
- A separate window will open, containing the items that you have
deleted within the last 15 days. Highlight the items you want to
recover, and click the
Recover Selected Itemsbutton (it looks like an envelope).
- This will place the items into your
Deleted Itemsfolder. From there you can move or drag them back to your Inbox, or to any folder you wish.
Note: All items in the recovery window appear with an envelope icon, regardless of object type. If the item recovered is a non-mail item (such as a contact, appointment, or task), Outlook will recover it properly with the appropriate icon when it appears back in yourDeleted Itemsfolder.
Note: The maximum available time in the retention area is 15 days. This is the exact same access that Exchange administrators have. Consequently, if you delete something from the 15-day retention area, or the time limit has expired on an item, it is not recoverable even with administrative intervention.
Recovering deleted items from other folders
Every folder in Exchange has a deleted items retention area, but the
deleted items recovery function is only enabled on the Deleted
Items folder by default. Items find their way into the deleted
items retention area of specific folders through various ways;
following are some of the most common:
- If you hard delete an item (i.e., delete it with
Shift-Del)
- If you delete an item when you are connected to Exchange through
an IMAP client
- If you use a PDA, some synchronization programs will hard delete items.
Installing the Outlook Deleted Items Fix
To enable the deleted items recovery function on folders other than
the Deleted Items folder, you will have to install a
registry key and Dword value. Since manually editing the
registry is potentially dangerous, UITS has developed a
utility that will make the required changes automatically. To enable
the Outlook Deleted Item Recovery utility, go to IUware
Online at:
Installing custom settings manually
If you are unable to download the utility, you can install the registry key and Dword manually.
Warning: This document contains instructions for editing the registry. If you make any error while editing the registry, you can potentially cause Windows to fail or be unable to boot, requiring you to reinstall Windows. Edit the registry at your own risk. Always back up the registry before making any changes. For information on how to back up your registry, see In Windows 95, 98, 98SE, and Me, how do I make a backup of the registry? or In Windows NT, 2000, and XP, how do I back up the registry? If you do not feel comfortable editing the registry, do not attempt these instructions. Instead, seek the help of a computing support provider.
Make sure to close Outlook, then use the following instructions to install the registry and Dword keys:
- Create a new Dword value named DumpsterAlwaysOn set to 1 (one) in
the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options
Once this is done, you must restart Outlook.
- Select the parent folder and click
Tools, thenRecover Deleted Items.... You can then choose anything within that folder to restore from the last 15 days.
For more information, see article 178630 in Microsoft's knowledge base.
You can search Microsoft's knowledge base at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspxAlso see:
- In Microsoft Outlook, what is AutoArchive, and how do I use it?
- Using Outlook Web Access, how do I empty my Deleted Items folder?
- In Outlook Web Access at IU, what are the buttons and icons in the toolbar?
Last modified on September 14, 2007.






