When you have been using the Outlook email service, the time comes when it will be necessary to search and examine items and searches that were carried out previously.
For this situation, Outlook gives us access, through its settings, to a list of searches made within the email account, which allows us to keep any necessary element of said searches within reach.
In the next few paragraphs, We will teach you step by step how to access the history of your Outlook email account from any of your devices, as well as how to manage this information and other useful tricks to better manage your Outlook account.
What is Outlook history and what data is stored in it?
A history is an automatic record made by various programs, mail servers and search engines. These programs save specific data in order to improve the efficiency of its use.
What concerns to Outlook, your search history is a record of all the terms entered in the mail service’s search tool, which have been used as a parameter to filter conversations. This search tool allows the entry of both email addresses and fragments of words that can be used to find the items searched. Everything that is entered in this search bar is recorded in the history.
Learn how to access your Outlook account history
Outlook allows us access history records starting at Outlook privacy settings in his web page.
This is the only available way to access the mail search history:
From the computer
For access history from Outlook web app, the process consists of enter privacy and data settings, and select the action you want to perform on the history data.
Let’s see:
- Login to your Outlook account.
- click at gear icon.
- Choose the link “See all Outlook settings.”
- Enters in section “General”.
- Choose the option “Privacy and data”.
- Swipe down until you find the history options.
Due to the arrangement of mail settings, we will not be able to view the history immediately on the web portal. The only options that we will have available to manage the history are “To export” Y “Clear browsing data”. In order to view the elements of this, it will be necessary to export it.
From the phone
The first thing to highlight is the fact that Search history cannot be accessed from the Outlook mobile app.
Having said this, we can enter the history management settings through the mobile browser:
- Enter the browser from your mobile phone.
- Access the Outlook website and log in.
- Enter the browser options, pressing the three-point icon, and activate the option “Desktop site”.
- Select the three dots icon next to your profile picture.
- Press the gear to access settings.
- Follow the path “General> Privacy and data”.
- Scroll until you find the history management options.
Learn how to delete or import your Outlook account history
Search history management actions can only be performed from the desktop web application. Beyond that, from the app or the phone site, the only thing we can do is delete the history. Both the procedure for exporting the history and for deleting it are very similar, since both options correspond to the end of the process.
Therefore, the user must follow a series of steps prior to reaching these options:
From the phone
At this point, there are actions that can be carried out from the mobile application, although it takes us directly to the Outlook website:
- Launch the app from Outlook.
- Choose the icon located in the upper left corner.
- Click on the gear icon to access the settings.
- Scroll down to the section “Preferences”.
- Select the option “Privacy settings”.
- Look for the option “Delete history”, available at the end of the list.
Even if no other aspect of history can be managed from the app, there is one more option that we have available from the browser: export the list of searched items to an Excel file.
This is done as follows:
- Access the Outlook website and log in from your mobile browser.
- Enable the option “Desktop site”, which you will find, in the browser options, by clicking on the three-dot icon.
- On the site of Outlook, select the three dots icon next to your profile picture.
- Select gear to enter setup.
- Click on the link “See all Outlook settings ”.
- Enter the section “General” and then in “Privacy and data”
- Scroll until you find the history management options.
- Click on the option “Export history”.
- Choose “Keep” when prompted by the pop-up notification.
Through this process, we have the possibility of downloading our search history to open with one of the office applications of our mobile. In addition, we can share it with whoever is necessary and review one by one the elements available there.
From the computer
The web application of Outlook allows us to perform all available actions to manage the search history of our mail, so that we can access this information no matter what operating system we use.
To export, or delete your Outlook history data, you just have to follow these steps:
-
Login to the General adjustments.
- click in option “Privacy and data”.
- Swipe down until you find the options of the record.
- To clear the search data, press “Clear browsing data”, and then click “Continue”
- If you want to download the search data, click “To export”. An automatic file download will start “.XSL “ with all items recorded in the Outlook search history.
What should I do if I notice unusual activity in my Outlook account?
Even with all your security measures, the possibility of a suspicious activity alert in our email account is always a risk that is present. For this reason, it is necessary to take actions to protect the security of our information.
For this purpose, there are a variety of actions that we can take to improve the security of the email account, as well as make it difficult for any external attacker to access, and protect the current information in our email:
Change Password
Reinforce the password to access the mailbox is one of the methods more effective to protect our emails.
The most recommended option is to create a strong password, a mixture of letters, numbers and special characters:
- From the main screen of your Outlook account, click on your profile picture.
- Select the option “My Microsoft account.”
- Scroll to the bottom of the page to the option “Security” and click “Update”.
- In the next window that will open, select “Change my password”.
- Perform identity authentication in case it is requested.
- Enter current password, and the new password in the boxes where it corresponds.
- click in “Keep”.
Enable 2-step verification
The activate two-step verification provides an additional layer of security for our email information. By means of this measure, Outlook will ask for two methods of identity confirmation before providing inbox access.
To activate the two-step security verification, you just have to be guided by the following procedure:
- Starting from the main Outlook screen, Select your profile picture.
- Select the option “My Microsoft account.”
- Scroll down to the section “Security” and select the link “Update”.
- In the upper right part you will see the access to the verification in two steps, click on this link.
- Make sure your login options are up to date, that is, password and alternate email.
- Scroll down to the section “Additional security.”
- In option “Two-step verification”, click “Activate”.
- Read the two-step verification requirements and select “Following”.
- Select and enter the method to receive the security codes for login, then click “Following”.
- Enter the code sent to the method you have selected.
- Enter your password.
- Follow the instructions to finalize the last details.
Export mailbox
Among the privacy and data functions of Outlook, we have the option to export the messages from our inbox quickly and directly, allowing us to safely store our emails.
The process for this is really simple, and consists of the following steps:
- Enter your tray of mail Outlook.
- Click the gear located on the top bar.
- Accede to “See all Outlook settings.”
- Choose “General”.
- Login to “Privacy and data”.
- Click the button “Export mailbox”.
The export process will be done automatically. It can take from a few hours to four days depending on the volume of the mailbox., and once it is ready, we will receive a notification to be able to download the backup file.