Lost Windows Live Mail

Doug Post 0 Reputation points
2026-05-01T21:55:18.9566667+00:00

Have been using windows live mail essentials 2012. April 30th a company severed the line used for internet/phone and tv.

It was repaired and I had everything back except my emails when logged into. How can I get them back. If I can't, and I get outlook, will my emails reappear? I use my computer for work and it is essential I have email.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Recovery and backup
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  1. Thomas4-N 21,530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-23T10:37:13.2466667+00:00

    Hello Doug Post,

    Windows Live Mail 2012 has been end-of-support for a long time, and on top of that Microsoft retired the old DeltaSync protocol it used for Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts a while back. So if your email is an Outlook.com or Hotmail address, WLM hasn't really been able to sync new mail for some time, and an ISP outage just brings that to the surface.

    Whether your mail is actually "lost" depends on what kind of account you have set up in WLM:

    • If it's an IMAP or Outlook.com account, your mail lives on the server, not on your PC. Once you re-add the account in a modern client, everything reappears from the server. Nothing is gone.
    • If it's a POP account, the mail was downloaded and stored only on your PC. WLM keeps it as .eml files in %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\ — you can paste that path into File Explorer to confirm it's still there.

    Going forward, the cleanest path is to move to the new Outlook (free, included with Windows) or Thunderbird if you'd prefer a non-Microsoft option. Both can import your existing WLM .eml files, so you don't lose anything in the move.

    If you can share what type of account you have (POP, IMAP, or an Outlook.com/Hotmail address) and whether the old mail is still showing in WLM offline, I can point you to the exact next step.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-05-01T21:55:36.6033333+00:00

    Windows Live Mail stores mail locally in data files on the PC. When the internet line was cut and later restored, the messages themselves would not be deleted from the mail server or from the local store just because of the outage. Loss of access usually happens because of:

    • The client not syncing correctly
    • The account being re-created with different sync settings
    • The local mail store not being opened by the new client

    To recover old mail, the supported approach is to locate and open the existing Outlook/Windows Live Mail data file on the machine, or restore it from backup, then attach it in a supported mail client such as Outlook.

    A typical recovery path (based on Outlook data recovery) is:

    1. Locate the old data file
      • Open File Explorer.
      • Check common Outlook data locations such as:
        • C:\Users<YourUsername>\Documents\Outlook Files\
        • C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
      • Look for .pst files (for Outlook). Windows Live Mail uses its own store, but if mail was ever exported to PST, this is where it would be.
    2. Copy the data file to a safe location
      • Right‑click the .pst file → Copy.
      • Paste it into an easy‑to‑find folder, such as Documents.
    3. Open the data file in Outlook (if moving to Outlook)
      • Open Outlook (desktop app).
      • Go to File → Open & Export → Open Outlook Data File.
      • Select the copied .pst file → Open.
      • A new folder tree appears with the recovered emails, contacts, calendar, and folders.
    4. (Optional) Import into the current Outlook profile
      • File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Import from another program or file → Outlook Data File (.pst).

    If there is no PST or backup of the Windows Live Mail store, Outlook will not automatically “make old emails reappear.” Outlook can only show:

    • Messages still present on the mail server (for IMAP/Exchange/Outlook.com accounts), or
    • Messages imported from existing local data files (such as PSTs or exported mail from Windows Live Mail).

    If the account is an Outlook.com/Exchange/IMAP account and messages are still on the server, configuring the same account in Outlook will sync whatever remains online. If messages were POP‑only and stored only locally in Windows Live Mail with no backup, and the local store is gone or corrupted, those specific messages cannot be automatically restored.

    For future protection, back up mail regularly by exporting or copying mail data to a safe location (local backup drive, external drive, or cloud storage such as OneDrive).

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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