Maintaining an organized Outlook mailbox is crucial for effective and efficient work. An overabundance of emails can lead to confusion and chaos, and it may also result in Outlook slowing down or crashing unexpectedly. To ensure a smooth working experience in Outlook, it's essential to declutter your mailbox by removing unnecessary items. To assist you in cleaning up your Outlook, we have outlined a few methods that will help you permanently eliminate extraneous emails.
- Delete Emails Manually: The most common method for deleting messages is to select them one by one or in bulk and then press Shift + Delete. Outlook will prompt you with a confirmation pop-up; click on 'Yes' to confirm the action.
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Another way to delete emails is to select them, hold down the Shift key, and then click the Delete button on the Home tab. Confirm the action by clicking 'Yes' to permanently delete the messages.
- Remove the Confirmation Prompt: In this method, we will make some background changes to Outlook so that it doesn't prompt for confirmation before deleting messages, making it easier for you to delete them without interruptions.
- For this, open Outlook, click on the File > Option, available on the left panel of the screen.
- In the new window, navigate to the Advanced tab. Under the 'Other' category, you will see the option 'Prompt for confirmation before permanently deleting items' is checked; uncheck this option and click 'OK' to save the changes.
Empty Deleted Items Folder: When you use the simple 'Delete' option in Outlook, the deleted emails are moved to the 'Deleted Items' folder within your mailbox. To permanently delete these messages, you also need to empty the 'Deleted Items' folder. Follow the steps below to do this:
- Open Outlook and right-click on the Deleted Items folder and select Empty Folder from the menu.
- When prompted for confirmation, click on the Yes button to delete all the emails.
- Note: Alternately, you can select the Deleted Items folder and then click on the Folder tab. There you will see Empty Folder option, click on the option, and confirm the deletion once again.
Empty Deleted Items when Exiting Outlook: Manually emptying the Deleted Items folder can be a repetitive task. To streamline this process, you can adjust your Outlook settings to automatically empty the Deleted Items folder whenever you exit Outlook. Follow these steps to configure this feature:
- Open Outlook and start with clicking on the File > Options available on the left side of the screen.
- After clicking 'Options,' an Outlook Options window will appear. In this window, select the 'Advanced' category. Within the 'Outlook Start and Exit' section, check the box labeled 'Empty Deleted Items folder when exiting Outlook.' Click 'OK' to save your changes, and the settings will be applied to your Outlook profile.
So, these were a few methods for permanently deleting emails from your Outlook profile. However, there are instances when we accidentally delete important emails among the ones we intend to remove, or emails that we may need in the future. Don't worry; we have a solution for that situation as well. Keep reading for the solution.
How to Recover and Restore Permanently Deleted Emails in Outlook?
If you've mistakenly deleted emails in Outlook, including important ones, don't worry; we have a solution for you. Kernel for Outlook PST Repair is a powerful recovery tool that can retrieve both deleted items and permanently deleted emails. To use it, simply download the tool from the website, install it, run the program, and follow the step-by-step instructions. The tool's user-friendly features make the process easy and self-explanatory, ensuring a smooth experience. As you progress, you'll reach a step where the tool prompts you to set saving preferences. Here, you can choose 'Save deleted emails only' among multiple saving options before proceeding.
