Reclaim free storage space provided by Outlook is a good decision for keep email optimized. The main way to do this is by permanently and permanently eliminating old messages that no longer have any use, more than filling the inbox.
Regular Outlook account includes 15GB of free storage, although that changes in business or corporate accounts. That ability must be used to the maximum, when we receive the alert that there are only a few MB left and that we must free up space, we must resort to eliminate what is no longer needed.
In this course you will see how to permanently delete an email either on a mobile device or on a computer, in addition to the way to block certain messages and to recover those that you accidentally delete.
How to delete an Outlook email forever
Each minute approximately 150 thousand emails are sent around the world and depending on the movement of your account, you will receive dozens of them in one day. This circumstance leads to the fact that at some point the inbox becomes cluttered, taking a long time to get the most important messages, lowering productivity and generating annoyance.
To avoid any inconvenience, It is vital to learn to permanently delete the emails that you no longer need and here you will learn how to do it both on mobile devices and on computers in different operating systems.
Go for it:
On Android and iOS
Many users with these operating systems on mobile, too have the Outlook application installed to view their email messages.
If you want to eliminate them permanently, you can use the steps that follow:
- Opens the application of Outlook.
- In the inbox, press on the message (s) and at the top appears a trash can icon.
- Click on the trash button and a notification appears that indicates “The message has been deleted.”
- Nevertheless, the message has not disappeared from the system, goes to a folder named after “Deleted elements” where they stay for a while.
- If you wish erase them from there, click on your profile picture located in the upper left corner.
- In the menu that appears, choose the folder “Deleted elements”.
- Click on the deleted itemsIf you want to delete several of them at the same time, you must mark them and again tap on the trash can symbol located in the upper menu.
- It shows you a warning asking if you want to permanently delete the messages.
- Press on “Definitively delete.”
- And it will show you a message that says “Nothing in deleted items.”
- This means that already from your inbox the messages you selected have disappeared and you can no longer retrieve them again.
On Windows or MacOS
On the computer you can use the Outlook application in its different versions or also manage it from the browser.
If you want to permanently delete messages that no longer interest you, do the following:
- First, you are going to do it from the Outlook application.
- To be inside the inbox, select one or more emails that you want to delete.
- In the top menu, check the option “Remove”.
- Open the folder “Deleted elements”.
- Select the messages to delete and click “Empty folder”.
- Thus, messages will disappear forever.
- Now, see how to do it from the web browser. The first thing is to enter the Outlook email account.
- Select the message (s) marking the circle located on the left.
- I know active in the top menu the function “Remove”.
- Click there and it will notify you “The message has been deleted.”
- Search in the left side menu “Deleted elements”.
- At the top it shows you “Empty folder”.
- It asks you if you are sure to do it, select “Delete all.”
- And with this I already know they will delete the messages.
Are emails actually deleted from Outlook?
Once you follow the steps above, the messages are ready to be permanently deleted from the email account upon expiration of the waiting period. When they disappear, you will no longer have the option of recovering them in any way, since Microsoft denies you access. That is why you must be sure before taking action. Nevertheless, a backup of the files remains on Microsoft’s servers that is not available to the subscriber, the messages will no longer be seen in your account, but they do not disappear completely from the network.
How to block a user’s messages in Outlook
It may happen that several times a day you receive emails from certain contacts or accounts that you don’t need to have.
Here the Outlook function of blocking certain messages applies:
Block incoming emails
The method that you will see below applies to divert frequent addresses that send unsolicited email messages to your inbox. Once you block them you will no longer have them, instead they will be diverted to the spam folder.
Follow these steps:
- Opens the account of Outlook and log in.
- Seeks “Setting” and then “Mail”.
- From the available options, select “To block” or “Let”.
- Write in the list the emails you want to block.
- Every time you finish, click on “Keep”.
Nevertheless it is advisable to check the spam folder to make sure that no mail has been leaked that is important and that you need to rescue. In this case, you must unblock the address and name it as allowed.
Disable Newsletter subscription
It is not surprising that most people who use the internet subscribe to different websites or social networks with the intention of receiving information, promotions and news. The detail is that sometimes there are so many that they become annoying, especially when they are no longer useful. The option in this case is disable these subscriptions and stop receiving them in your inbox.
The way to do it is with these simple steps:
- First, you must enter your Outlook account.
- Select the message that you no longer want to receive and enter them.
- At the top, you will see the option “Cancel subscription”.
- A window opens pop-up where you should confirm the cancellation.
- Once you cancel it, the messages will not reach your inbox again.
- Performing these steps, you will avoid spam, your mail will look more organized, you optimize your time and refine your contact list.
How to recover an email accidentally deleted from Outlook
Depending on the time that has passed since you deleted a message in Outlook, you will have the possibility of recovering it. This function is especially beneficial if in a confusion or accidentally when selecting a large quantity of mail you press the delete option. Every time messages are deleted, the system warns you that these will be available for a few more days and then they will be deleted forever.
If it has not been a long time, you can follow the steps that are named for you now:
In the deleted folder
The first place messages go once you delete them from your inbox is the “Deleted Items” folder.
If you want to rescue them from there, follow these steps:
- In the left menu, select the folder “Deleted elements”.
- Select the message you want to recover and click “Restore”.
Messages that have been deleted from the Deleted Items folder
While the mail is in the deleted items folder, the option may have been pressed “Permanently delete ”. If recovered, the files usually go to their original location, as long as it hasn’t been long.
It is very easy to do it as you will see now:
- Mark Folder “Deleted elements”.
- There you should see an option called “Recover deleted items from this folder.”
- Choose which one or which ones you want to bring back and click on “Get it back”.
- With this, you will have back that information you need to continue with your work.