What happens when e-mails are deleted?
The .pst database stores indexes that points to each outlook item. When you empty the Deleted Items folder, Outlook doesn’t actually delete the items, it just deletes the items listings from the index. The item still exists in the pst file, but is inaccessible because, Outlook has no idea where it is without the pointer in the index. The space the item takes up is just available as free space.
It’s only when you archive your pst file, that the outlook item is permanently erased, and the empty space is reclaimed. That means, when you archive a pst file, the item is removed permanently from the hard drive. This often shrinks the pst file by many megabytes. If the Deleted Items folder contains a lot of messages, Outlook may start archiving the pst file immediately and the items will be deleted forever, within a few minutes. If the folder contained any important and confidential information, it will be permanently erased from the hard disk.
You can recover deleted emails from Outlook pst files, with the help of the REMO Recover Outlook (pst) software. The software lets you recover deleted emails from Outlook pst files, and also supports recovery of large attachments and embedded HTML messages, as well as recovery of password protected .pst files, compressed encryption and high encryption .pst files.
See also:
Recover deleted items Outlook
Outlook migration
Recover Outlook email
Recover deleted Outlook 2003 emails
Repair Microsoft Outlook inbox
What does REMO Backup Outlook do?
REMO Undelete