Microsoft Outlook 2007

Emptying the Deleted Items Folder

To help preserve your Outlook Exchange account quota and to keep organized, you should empty your Deleted Items folder on a regular basis. For more information, refer to Managing Your Account Quota. There are two options within Outlook 2007 for deleting items; the best option for you depends on your personal working style. If you wish to view a message before deleting (to verify that you really want to delete it), simply double click the item in the Deleted Items folder to open it or use the Reading Pane. Outlook also allows you to recover items if they were recently emptied from the Deleted Items folder.

Emptying Deleted Items When Exiting Outlook
Emptying Deleted Items upon Demand
Recovering Permanently Deleted Items

Emptying Deleted Items When Exiting Outlook

RECOMMENDED: Emptying the Deleted Items folder every time you exit Outlook 2007 is a good maintenance practice to adopt. The process is simple and performing it can save you time.

From the Tools menu, select Options...
The Options dialog box appears.
Select the Other tab
In the General section, select Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting
The option is selected if a checkmark appears in the box.
OPTIONAL: To suppress the warning that typically appears before the Deleted Items folder is emptied:
1. Click ADVANCED OPTIONS...
  The Advanced Options dialog box appears.
2. In the General settings section, deselect Warn before permanently deleting times
  The option is deselected if there is no checkmark in the box.
3. Click OK
  Outlook 2007 will no longer require confirmation before emptying the Deleted Items folder.
Click OK
The Deleted Items folder will now be emptied upon every exit.

Emptying Deleted Items upon Demand

You may also wish to empty the Deleted Items folder periodically while using Outlook 2007. If you are using Outlook throughout the day to send and receive messages or update your calendar, it would be a good idea to clean up your space from time to time.

From the Tools menu, select Empty "Deleted Items" Folder
If a confirmation dialog box appears, click YES
The Deleted Items folder is now empty.

Recovering Permanently Deleted Items

Outlook gives you the ability to recover items that you have recently permanently deleted from the Deleted Items folder. This should be done as soon as possible to ensure that they are still recoverable. Recovered items are placed back into the Deleted Items folder.

From the Folder List, select Deleted Items
From the Tools menu, select Recover Deleted Items...
The Recover Deleted Items dialog box appears.
Select the item which you want to recover
OR
To select multiple items, press and hold [Ctrl] while clicking each item
OR
Click SELECT ALL
To recover the selected items, click RECOVER SELECTED ITEMS
OR
To purge the selected items permanently,
1. Click PURGE SELECTED ITEMS
  A confirmation dialog box appears.
2. Click OK