This topic

Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:34:23 GMT

Yesterday I inadvertently deleted Trash e mails on my Outlook. I went to Webmail and checked nut all my valuble e mails have gone. On hotmail you could recover deleted email. It is impossible to contact BT technical service. No chat service available. They simply ask you to go to the website and see the frequently ask questions. But this question is not there. Could somebody tell me how to retrieve them, please? Dont tell me to go to Aak.com. They charge £1 but the hidden charge is £25 a month. Thanks

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 15:06:12 GMT

Your Outlook must be set up as an IMAP account which synchronises with the BT servers (webmail) which means anything you do on either Outlook or BT webmail are replicated on the other.

The Trash folder is for emails that you no longer want and when you empty it on webmail it means they are deleted from the BT server and they can not be recovered.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:21:34 GMT

no, all my incoming email has been going to my trash folder for years, not my inbox. Even I inadvertently deleted the trash email from it yesterday, all new e mail has come there. From the previous posts ion this forum, I have seen that this is happening to many BT Customers. Now i would like somebody's help to retrieve the email I have inadvertently deleted from the trash folder. Thanks

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:27:15 GMT

Can you post links to the threads that "many BT Customers" have for years had their email going into the trash folder instead of the Inbox?

As has been pointed out, if they are not showing in webmail it means they are not on the BT servers and can not be recovered however if you want to see what BT say call BT 0330.1234.150 and ask for the email team.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:46:00 GMT

sure Here 3 out of many posts from the past. They all have e mail coming in to Trash folder like mine.

TheBarn_5

Beginner

on ‎02-08-2024 14h52

2,013 Views

Message 1 of 4

Email going directly trash folder

Emails have not been received on my iphone. I logged into BT account via website and can see a new email in the inbox, but when I try to download email on iphone it seems to automatically move the email to the trash folder and therefore I cannot see it on my phone.

any ideas what to check?

th.rd".

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 09:28:12 GMT

That is not what you said was happening to your emails. You said they all arrived in your Trash folder and have been doing that for years.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 09:33:02 GMT

If your emails are doing the same check to see if Outlook is set up as a POP3 account and if it is check to see if the setting in Outlook is set to delete emails after they have been downloaded.

If it is untick it.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:09:00 GMT

yes exactly6. Some others have the same problem. Thanks for trying to heklp resolving it

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:12:19 GMT

Ok, will try. Thanks. On hotmail you can recover deleted e mail from deleted folder. Unfortunately, with BT Internet, it is not easy to retrieve mail deleted from Trash, but i am sure a tech expert could find a way

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:36:22 GMT

On BTMail webmail i the email was still in your Trash folder you could also recover it from there but if it is deleted from the Trash folder you can not recover it because it is no longer on the BT email servers.

I would suspect that is the same with Hotmail if the email has been placed into the Trash folder then you empty the Trash folder.

As I said, I doubt you will be able to recover all the emails that were in your Trash folder prior to you deleting them from there but if you do please post back how it was done.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:12:55 GMT

Thanks. Hotmail is superior. If you delete mail from your delete folder, you could still retrieve it from cyberspace. I just checked and 3K e mails of mine deleted over the last few months are still recoverable . Sadly Btinternet has not offered that facility

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:09:05 GMT

I know BT do not offer that and it is ridiculous in my opinion that Microsoft Hotmail arbitrarily decide to keep your email that you have placed into your Trash folder, which obviously means you have decided you no longer need them, and then when you finally make up your mind and decide that the Trash folder is not a "pending" storage folder you do decide that you definitely 100% no longer want them and empty/delete the Trash folder Microsoft decide to keep them until they decide to delete them!

Very odd that people are happy with that and think it is in your words "superior". Each to their own I suppose.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:43:19 GMT

YES 😁

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

licquorice — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:26:52 GMT

If your mail is either going directly to the trash folder or being moved immediately to the trash folder, there is either a rule set up on one of your devices (or in webmail) to do so or you have a device configured as POP3 which is deleting the posts from the server.

Worth checking webmail and your devices for rules that may have inadvertently been configured.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:23:09 GMT

Thanks for your advice Cl. You’re right. There was a rule set up, and one of my IT-savvy friends removed it yesterday. Now the emails are coming to my inbox as they should. (My BT Internet is on IMAP/SMTP settings.)

However, the main problem I have is retrieving all the important emails that were in my Trash folder, which I inadvertently deleted two days ago. From the posts I’ve read, it’s regrettable that they may be gone forever. 😫😩

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

licquorice — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:44:08 GMT

@Devsiriwrote:
Thanks for your advice Cl. You’re right. There was a rule set up, and one of my IT-savvy friends removed it yesterday. Now the emails are coming to my inbox as they should. (My BT Internet is on IMAP/SMTP settings.)
Well there you go, not a BT problem after all.
However, the main problem I have is retrieving all the important emails that were in my Trash folder, which I inadvertently deleted two days ago. From the posts I’ve read, it’s regrettable that they may be gone forever. 😫😩
Can't be done, its like expecting to retrieve something from your dustbin after the dustmen have been. As @gg30340 said, quite bizarre that other providers do it.

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

Devsiri — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 17:24:45 GMT

Very funny, CL — I love your example! Maybe Hotmail, in all its superior glory, has a secret command centre that knows exactly where every bit of household rubbish (deleted email)ends up in the recycling depot — ready to launch a rescue mission in case of emergency! I once heard about a million-pound lottery winner who had to rummage around the recycling centre to find the winning ticket. Now that’s dedication. Cheers to Hotmail — truly a giant among pygmies like BT Internet 😀

Re: Retrieving the eleted e mail from Trash folder

gg30340 — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 17:33:28 GMT

I dare say the Microsoft are keeping your emails for as long as they decide so that they or more likely the American Government can sift through them to find out all about you and your contacts if they ever feel the need to do so.

In any event in the end it was not BT that caused your unfortunate loss of all your emails, it was user error. 1) your "friend" for setting up the stupid rule and 2) you for not doing something about your emails going straight into the Trash folder for the past couple of years and 3) you for mistakenly using your Trash folder as a storage folder then deleting it.