How to retrieve old e-mails from "Inbox" and "Sent Items" folders?

KISHAN HARATHI 0 Reputation points
2026-09-08T06:46:39.4166667+00:00

I am using hotmail probably since 2005 or 2006. However, my e-mails in "Inbox" and "Sent Items" are available only from 2020. I remeeeember most of them were not deleted by me. How to retrieve from e-mails from the beginning? Some of them pertains to my career and I require them now. I have also tried through outlook.com web but no result. Please advise

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Account management, security, and privacy
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  1. Hornblower409 14,425 Reputation points
    2026-09-09T03:40:29.7966667+00:00

    @KISHAN HARATHI said

    my e-mails in "Inbox" and "Sent Items" are available only from 2020. I remeeeember most of them were not deleted by me. How to retrieve from e-mails from the beginning? I have also tried through outlook.com web but no result

    Microsoft never deletes emails from your Inbox and Sent Items (unless you run out of storage).
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/microsoft-storage-quotas

    Microsoft does not maintain any backups of your emails. If you can not find them in any folder using Outlook Web, then I am sorry, but they are gone.

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  2. RADISH RAVI 0 Reputation points
    2026-09-08T07:00:33.11+00:00

    Haii

    I’m not certain, but most likely those older Hotmail emails are no longer stored on Microsoft’s servers. Hotmail migrated to Outlook.com years ago, and messages that weren’t actively kept or synced may have been purged.

    The two most common recovery options are:

    Try Outlook.com → Settings → Recover deleted items to see if anything is still retrievable.

    • If you ever used a local Outlook app or another mail client, check its archive files on your PC or backups.

    If neither works, unfortunately the emails from 2005–2019 are not recoverable through Microsoft’s systems. The Gazette publication or career records you mentioned may need to be reconstructed from other sources like attachments, contacts, or institutional archives.

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