Recovering deleted e-mail messages from the Outlook and Outlook Express applications included in the Microsoft Office suite can be performed by the user using either the built-in tools of the program itself or using additional software.
Necessary
- Download desktop utilities:
- Scanpst.exe
- Recovery Toolbox for Outlook Express
- Microsoft Outlook within the Office package
Instructions
Step 1
Use the special Scanpst.exe utility included with Microsoft Outlook to recover deleted e-mail messages. To do this, close Outlook and download the Scanpst.exe utility located by default at: drive_name: Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice.
Step 2
Click the Browse button in the program window that opens to search for files with the.pst and.ost extensions and confirm the selected action by clicking the Start button. Wait for the process to complete and click the Repair button in the new dialog box to start the repair process. Exit the utility by clicking OK after the Repair complete message appears and start Outlook.
Step 3
Open the "Go" menu of the upper service panel of the application window and select the "List of folders" item. Expand the Lost & Found folder in the dialog box that opens and locate the deleted email message.
Step 4
Download and install the specialized Recovery Toolbox for Outlook Express application on your computer if you are using Outlook Express application. Open the Sent Items.dbx link in the directory on the left side of the program window and start the file reading procedure by clicking the Read Source File button in the top panel. Then use the Choose Save Folder button to specify the selected location for saving the recovered e-mail messages.
Step 5
Use the Save emails command in the main application window and select the Save all emails option from the drop-down menu. Type the path from the Sorce Folder Path line in Windows Explorer and navigate to the desired folder by pressing the softkey labeled Enter. Make a copy of the Sent Items.dbx file and save it anywhere you like. Delete the original Sent Items.dbx file and start Outlook Express. Expand the folder named Sent Items.dbx to automatically create a new empty file.
Step 6
Without closing Outlook Express, start Windows Explorer and select all emails with the.eml extension. Move the highlighted files to the Sent Items folder of Outlook Express to restore them.
