In Outlook, Old Emails are missing

Hi adam flattau

I understand you are having problem with older emails missing in Classic Outlook for Windows and they also don’t appear in search. Are you using an Outlook.com/Hotmail account, or a POP/IMAP/custom domain account in Classic Outlook, and do you have (or previously used) an archive.pst / backup .pst? 

Meanwhile, please follow these steps:  

• Increase the amount of mail kept offline  
  • In Classic Outlook, older mail may still exist but isn’t downloaded locally, which also impacts search results. Change the Mail to keep offline slider here: File > Account Settings > Account Settings > select the account > Change > move “Mail to keep offline” to a longer interval.  
• If your old mail was in a local Outlook Data File (.pst), re-open it 
  • If older email was stored in a .pst (common for local storage/archives), it won’t appear until that file is opened again. To open a .pst in classic Outlook: File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File.  
• If mail exists but “disappears” after importing a PST (IMAP scenario), switch the view 
  • After importing from a .pst, messages may be present but hidden from view; go to: View > Change View > IMAP Messages.  
• Repair search so older mail becomes searchable again 
  • If search returns no/partial results, rebuild the Outlook/Windows search catalog (index). Use: Control Panel > Indexing Options > Advanced > Rebuild. If this started after a Windows upgrade, indexing is rebuilt after the upgrade, and you can check progress in Outlook via Search Tools > Indexing Status.  
• If the emails were deleted/moved, try server recovery  
  • If messages aren’t in Deleted Items, use Recover Deleted Items from Server from the Deleted Items folder in classic Outlook.  
• If the data file itself is corrupted, repair the Outlook data file 
  • Use the Inbox Repair Tool SCANPST.EXE to diagnose and repair .pst/.ost issues. See: Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost) - Microsoft Support 

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!   

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