need data back

Hi Perry Miele,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

You can refer to the troubleshooting steps provided by Q&A Assist above. If you would like to contact Microsoft Support for further assistance, please follow these steps:

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Go to Contact Us: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus

• Click Show expanded list of products
• Select Outlook > Get Home support
• Type Outlook live chat in the search box, then select Get Help > Contact Support
• If you can’t sign in to the affected account, sign in with a different Microsoft account to access support options
• Under Products & Services, select Other Products > Outlook, then choose Chat with a support agent via web browser

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

For missing mail and folders, there are only a few supported recovery options, and they depend on where the data was stored and how it was lost.

1. Check if messages are just hidden or moved
   • In Outlook.com or Outlook on the web, verify that mail is not being filtered:
     • Select Filter above the message list and choose All so every message shows.
   • Check the Other tab if Focused Inbox is enabled; messages may have been moved there.
   • Check Archive, Deleted Items, and any custom folders in case rules or manual moves relocated the messages.
   • Review Rules settings to see if an Inbox or Sweep rule is moving messages to another folder; edit or delete incorrect rules.
2. Recover deleted messages (time‑limited)
   • In Outlook.com / Outlook on the web:
     • Go to Deleted Items.
     • If the messages are there, select them and choose Restore.
     • If not visible, in Deleted Items select Recover items deleted from this folder, then select the items and choose Restore.
   • Notes:
     • Messages removed from Deleted Items are only recoverable for 30 days.
     • Recovery of items removed from Deleted Items must be done from a computer browser, not from Outlook mobile apps.
     • Messages deleted from a child’s account cannot be recovered.
3. If folders disappeared or reverted names in Outlook.com
   • There is a known issue where folders created or renamed in Outlook.com revert to the old name or disappear on next sign‑in.
   • Items inside those folders can still be found using Search.
   • The folder issue is fixed in the new Outlook.com, so accessing the mailbox in the updated interface should prevent further occurrences.
4. If Outlook data was local (PST) and Windows or Outlook was reinstalled
   • On the Windows PC, look for Outlook data files (.pst) that may still contain the mail and folders:
     • C:\Users<YourUsername>\Documents\Outlook Files\
     • or C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
   • Copy any .pst files found to a safe location (for example, Documents).
   • In Outlook for Windows (classic):
     • Go to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File.
     • Select the copied .pst file and open it.
     • A new folder tree will appear with the recovered emails, contacts, calendar, and folders.
   • Optionally, import from that PST into the current profile via File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another program or file > Outlook Data File (.pst).
5. If the account itself or aliases were removed
   • If an email alias was removed from a Microsoft account, it is permanently deleted and cannot be added back or used to receive mail again.
6. If the account was compromised or access is lost
   • If missing mail might be due to unauthorized access, review recent sign‑in activity and follow the guidance in How to recover a hacked or compromised Microsoft account and Help with the Microsoft account recovery form (see references) to secure the account and attempt recovery.

If the missing data is not in Deleted Items, not recoverable via Recover items deleted from this folder, not present in any PST backups, and the alias or account was removed, then the messages and folders are not recoverable through Microsoft’s standard tools.

References:

• Outlook.com folders disappear or go back to a previous name
• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• How do I recover my old email messages, my contacts and everything else I had in Outlook? - Microsoft Q&A
• MSN email issues - Microsoft Q&A
• How do I send an email to Microsoft about my account being hacked and taken over by <removed> ? - Microsoft Q&A
• Need help with hacked microsoft account - Microsoft Q&A
• Can't sign in to my email - Microsoft Q&A