- Restore deleted emails by dragging them out of the trash in Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook.
- If the email was deleted permanently, use Time Machine to find and restore that email in Finder or Apple Mail.
- If you use Outlook, open the app on your Mac to find and restore permanently deleted email.
Recovering Deleted Email from Trash in Apple Mail
Open Apple Mail. This is the easiest method if you normally use Apple Mail and haven't erased the email you're trying to recover.
Navigate to your trash mailbox. It should be listed on the menu on the left side, but if you don't see it, add it. To do that, hover your mouse over "Favorites" and click the plus icon that appears. Choose "Trash" from the drop-down and that will add "Trash" back to your menu! You can also add other categories, like "Junk" and "Archive."
Click and drag the email you want to restore. Move it to a folder on the menu where you want to send it. Alternatively, right-click the email, select Move to > and choose where you want to move the deleted email to. The deleted email will move out of your Trash and be restored!
Recovering Permanently Deleted Email with Time Machine
Open Apple Mail. Use this method if you regularly use Time Machine to create backups of your files. Alternatively, open Finder, click Go > Go to Folder... in the menu at the top of the screen, and type or paste ~/Library/Mail into the box that pops up and double-click on the top result.
Open Time Machine. Use Spotlight or click it from the Dock if you see the icon there.
Use the timeline to find your deleted email. If you don't like scrolling on the right side of your screen with the timeline, click the up and down arrow keys to move through your backups. Once you find your email before it was permanently deleted, stop moving through the timeline. If you're using Finder, tap the Spacebar to preview the message in an email. Click the file to select it if you want to restore it.
Click Restore. It's at the bottom of Time Machine and will restore that email backup. Don't worry! Your whole OS won't be restored, just the emails in Apple Mail, or, if you're using Finder, just the email that you have selected.
Recovering Deleted Email from Trash in Gmail
Go to your Gmail Inbox in a web browser. Use this method if you don't use Apple Mail and the email hasn't been permanently deleted.
Navigate to the Trash folder. It's on the menu on the left side of your page. You may need to click See More to expand the menu if you don't see the trashcan icon.
Click and drag the email you want to restore. Move it to a folder on the menu where you want to send it. For example, drag it from Trash to Inbox to have the email appear in your Inbox! Alternatively, right-click or Ctrl-click the email, select Move to > and choose where you want to move the deleted email to. The deleted email will move out of your Trash and no longer disappear after 30 days.
Recovering Unauthorized Deleted Mail
Go to the Gmail message recovery tool. If you need to log in, do that now. Use this method if you think someone else logged into your Google account and deleted your emails. Once you confirm your ownership of the account, Google will try to recover emails that were permanently deleted within the past 30 days.
Click Continue. You can see your progress through starting the recovery process at the top of the window.
Click Continue. Google will give you tips to prevent unauthorized access in the future, like changing your password. Once you click Continue for the last time, you'll see a message that Google is attempting to recover all your deleted emails in the last 30 days. You'll get an email when the process is finished.
Recovering Deleted Email from Trash in Outlook
Open Outlook. Use this method if you've only deleted the email within the last 30 days. After 30 days, the email in Trash is permanently deleted, and you need to use a different method to get your email. You can do this using the web app as well as the desktop client.
Navigate to the "Deleted Items" folder. It's next to a trashcan icon in the menu on the left side of the Outlook window.
Select the email you want to restore. Click the box to check it.
Click Restore. You'll see this button above the email with a curved arrow pointing backward. The email will no longer be in your Trash can and will show up in your Inbox!
Recovering Permanently Deleted Email in Outlook
Open Outlook. You must use the desktop application to do this on your Mac. Use this method if the email you want to recover is no longer in the Trash folder.
Navigate to the "Deleted Items" folder. It's next to a trashcan icon in the menu on the left side of the Outlook window.
Click Recover items deleted from this folder. It's small blue text under the folder heading.
Click the email you want to restore. You'll see a message preview in the pane to the right.
Click Restore. This is a button above your emails or in the pane to the right. If you want to select one message, simply click it. Press Shift to select multiple emails.
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