When you delete an email item from a folder of Outlook PST, it is first transferred to Deleted Items folder. Thus, you can recover it from there if required. This proves an active measure against permanent message deletion. But if you hit the Shift+Key combination or empty the Deleted Items folder, the message will not be visible in any Outlook folders. To Recover Deleted Email in this way is dependent on whether the Exchange Server setting is enabled or not. If it is, you can recover through 'Recover Deleted Items' command within a specific interval of time. If not, you will need to use your backup or apply third-party recovery tools.

Recovering Messages in Exchange Server account

A message deleted using Shift+Delete keys is termed as hard deleted in Outlook. The same goes with when you empty the Deleted Items folder or delete an item from this folder. Messages that go through Deleted Items folder can be recovered with no external help if you use an Exchange Server 5.5 or Exchange Server 2000 account. To do so, select the Deleted Items folder, choose Tools and Recover Deleted Items.

By default, this ability of recovering deleted emails is only set for Deleted Items folder and not others. So, if you use Shift+Delete key, you can't recover the messages as they bypass the Deleted Items folder.

However, you can enable the 'Recover Deleted Items' option for all the folders using an additional registry key. You also need to configure Exchange Server to retain the deleted items.

Recovering Messages in other accounts

Accounts other than Exchange Server, such as POP3 or IMAP4 do not provide any option to recover deleted items as Exchange Server does. To recover the permanently deleted emails in these accounts, you need to go for these options:

(1) Restore from the latest email backup.

(2) Use a Deleted Email Recovery application.

The latter option comes into picture when there is no suitable backup. These are scanning-based tools that can Recover Deleted Email in all cases of permanent message deletion. The software are rich in interface and prove safe to use.

Stellar Phoenix Deleted Email Recovery is an advanced recovery utility that scans, locates and recovers deleted Outlook PST emails. The software employs powerful algorithms for Deleted Email Recovery. It supports Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. It is a safe tool that preserves the original formatting and contents of deleted emails.