how to recover a deleted attachment from outlook

Question

I was in Outlook trying to open a pdf when the computer started an update. When the update was complete the attachment had gone from the email. Where can I recover this attachment?

Answer 1

Hi @Alan Barnes

Welcome to our forum!

Does the issue occur on the Outlook desktop client? If possible, please log in to your web mail to check if the pdf exists. 

Whether the PDF is in your draft email or in the mail you received？

If the pdf is in your draft email, you may try to re-insert the file by going to double-click the draft mail>insert>Attach File.

If the pdf is in the mail you received, here are a few steps you may try:

• Search for the Email: Use the search feature in Outlook to look for the email by keywords, sender, or date. More information: Find all messages with attachments in Outlook - Microsoft Support
• Check the Deleted Items Folder: Sometimes, attachments can end up in the Deleted Items folder.
• Recover Deleted Items: If you emptied the Deleted Items folder, you might still be able to recover the attachment. In Outlook, go to the Deleted Items folder and look for the "Recover items recently deleted from this folder" link at the top.
• Check the Sent Items Folder: If you replied to or forwarded the email, the attachment should still be on the original message you received. It won't be on replies. Switch to the Sent Items folder and enable "Show as Conversations" to see if the original email is there.

Hope it helps! 

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