What if we want to permanently delete messages and other items that we no longer need? In Outlook, permanent deletion is typically a two-step process. First, items are deleted from Outlook (using the delete button on the keyboard or the Delete button on the Ribbon). This action moves the item to the Deleted Items folder. After that, the user must manually delete the contents of the Deleted Items folder.
When the Deleted Items folder is emptied, the items are kept on the Exchange server for 180 days. Within these 180 days, items can still be recovered.
We will explore deleting and recovering items in the following videos.
Deleting Items
Deleting items in Outlook is often a two-step process - deleting the item and emptying the Deleted Items folder. There is a shortcut called a hard delete that enables users to bypass the second step of the deletion process.
Description of the video:
What if we want to permanently delete messages and other items that we no longer need?
In Outlook, permanent deletion typically consists of two stages- first, items are deleted from Outlook via the delete button, which moves them to the Deleted Items folder.
After that the user must manually delete the contents of the Deleted Items folder.
In this video we will delete a message using a two step process, then we will bypass this method with a simple short cut that is known as a hard delete.
The hard delete permanently deletes items in one step.
First, let's select a message.
To delete this message, on my keyboard, I press the Delete key.
The message disappears from the list, and even though we deleted it from our inbox, it is still easy to retrieve the message from the Deleted Items folder.
To see the contents of the Deleted Items folder, in the navigation pane, click on the Deleted Items folder.
We see the deleted message as well as any other messages that were previously deleted.
To empty the Deleted Items folder, right click the folder and then click Empty Folder.
A dialog box appears asking us to confirm the permanent deletion- to confirm this, click Yes.
Everything that was previously in the Deleted Items folder is now permanently deleted.
To return to the inbox, click the Inbox folder.
Since we have deleted one message by moving it to the Deleted Items folder, let's select another message and then hard delete it.
Select another message from the inbox.
To permanently delete the selected message, on the keyboard, press your Shift key and then the Delete key.
The confirmation dialog box reappears, asking if we are sure we want to permanently delete this item- to confirm this, click Yes.
The message is permanently deleted and will not show up in the Deleted Items folder.
Recovering Items
At IU, deleted Outlook items are stored in Exchange Online for seven (7) days. Within these seven days, items can be easily recovered.
NOTE: Previously items could be recovered for 180 days. Due to changes in Exchange at IU, this is now seven (7) days. The process for recovering deleted items remains the same.
Description of the video:
As a safeguard, Outlook Exchange stores all items that have been permanently deleted in a folder on the server for a certain period of time.
The system administrator determines how long these items will be stored and whether or not they can be recovered.
At Indiana University these files can be recovered within 180 days by the Outlook user; since this is the exact same access that the Exchange administrators have, if it has been longer than 180 days since the item was deleted it is not recoverable even with administrative intervention.
Let's recover the item that we permanently deleted; to do this we need to be on the Folder tab of the ribbon, so go ahead and click the Folder tab.
To begin to recover permanently deleted items, in the Cleanup group click the Recover Deleted Items button.
The Recover Deleted Items dialog box appears.
This dialog box contains a list of all of the items that have been deleted from this account for the past one hundred eighty days; the items are listed in ascending order from oldest to newest, we can recover any or all of these items from the Exchange server now.
To recover a message click any message, verify that the Restore Selected Items radio button is selected.
And then click OK.
The dialog box closes and the recovered message is now back in the Inbox.
