How to Undelete a Message Quickly in Outlook Email

Email & Messaging

Updated May 08, 2019

If you accidentally delete a message in Outlook Email then later decide you need that email, it's not too late. It's easy to recover an Outlook message you deleted. It works the same as undoing an action in Word and other programs.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, Outlook for Office 365, and Outlook Online.

Undelete a Message Quickly in Outlook

To undelete a message fast from the keyboard in Outlook:

If you didn't take any other action after deleting an email, press the Ctrl+Z keyboard combination to return the deleted email to the Inbox.

Here's another quick way to undo an action. Go to the Outlook Quick Access Toolbar and select Undo.
If you took other actions in Outlook email, press Ctrl+Z multiple times to undo a series of actions in the reverse order they were made.

Undelete Deleted Messages in Outlook

Deleted Outlook emails are found in the Deleted Items folder in Outlook and Outlook Online. If you mistakenly delete a message and don't recover it right away, move it from the Deleted Items folder to any other folder to restore it.

In Exchange and Office 365 accounts, deleted email is moved to Recoverable Items.

Open the Deleted Items folder.
Right-click the message you want to undelete.
Select Move > Inbox. The message is restored to the Inbox.

If time has passed, you may still be able to recover a deleted Outlook email, but the process is more involved. Emails deleted from the Deleted Items folder or Recoverable Items and IMAP emails marked for deletion are more difficult to recover. If you make regular backups on your computer, a backup may be the quickest path to recovery.