Where have my older emails gone? (Online Archive)
If your older emails seem to have disappeared from your Inbox, they've most likely been moved to your Online Archive. That's a separate storage area linked to your mailbox, set up so your main mailbox doesn't fill up.
Find the archive
- Classic Outlook: scroll down the folder list on the left to Online Archive - your email address (or In-Place Archive). Expand it to see the folders.
- New Outlook and Outlook on the web: look for In-Place Archive (or Online Archive) below your mailbox folders.
- Phones: the Outlook app and phone mail apps usually don't show the archive. Use a computer.
Search the archive
When you search in Outlook, choose All mailboxes or All folders (rather than Current folder) so the archive is included.
Good to know
- The archive is not the same as the Archive folder in your mailbox. That's just a normal folder you can move emails into.
- Archived emails are still yours and still searchable. Nothing has been deleted.
Can't see an archive at all?
Your mailbox may not have one. If older emails are genuinely missing, see Recover a deleted email or raise a ticket.