Outlook 2013: is it possible that I deleted email from another IMAP device?

Question

I have a problem with an email server and two clients (on two different devices). Both devices are configured with IMAP protocol communicating to the email server.

The device #1 is a pc and runs Outlook 2013 as client.

The device #2 is a smartphone and runs Solmail as client.

A couple of days ago, on the device #2 I moved a number of emails to the trash and then I unwillingly empitied the trash. Afterwards, I launched device #1 and Outlook updated the locally stored emails deleting the ones that I deleted from device #1.

Now, I am not able to recover those emails anymore from the server, because when you empty the trash the emails are gone. I wonder if there is any chance to recover them from some local copy in Outlook 2013 (e.g. from the .ost file).

To me it seems strange that emails that were already locally downloaded in Outlook are simply gone withtout passing through any "Deleted emails" folder.

I really hope that you can help me out.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

In short, your emails are gone.

Unfortunately, this is simply how IMAP works. While many email clients do cache downloaded emails... it's not actually part of how IMAP is designed to work for the client to keep copies of emails. The "canonical" storage for IMAP is always the IMAP provider/server. And, by default, when you delete an email the client sends a delete command to the server which then deletes the email server-side. Contrast this with POP3 which treats the POP3 provider as simply a queue of emails that need downloading and, typically, deletes them as soon as they are downloaded.

Most IMAP providers silently and automatically move emails they receive a delete command for to the Trash folder. Sounds like you did that manually... same difference really. The exception to this is when an IMAP provider gets a delete command for emails that are already in the Trash folder... those get deleted for real. And the clients, keeping to the idea that the IMAP provider is "canonical", then delete the email locally too.

This means that if you have multiple email clients configured to use the same email account via IMAP... when you delete an email the Trash in one client, the IMAP provider deletes the email and then all clients also delete any copy they may have cached. This is seen as a feature as it keeps all clients synchronized... something that was seen as a problem with POP3 which provided no mechanism for synchronization.

The only ray of hope here is if you have a third email client also configured to use IMAP on which you had also downloaded/viewed all the emails you want to recover but which you have not allowed to synchronize with the IMAP provider since deleting them. ::counts:: That's three "ifs" in a row. If, by some miracle, such is the case... you simply need to disconnect that client from all internet access before opening it, then open the client and export/backup the important emails.

And a piece of advice to avoid this problem in the future: don't empty the trash folder... ever. I know that goes against conventional wisdom... but imagine you had a robot that sifted through your kitchen trashcan everyday taking out any items that have been in there long enough to start getting stinky, and then tossing them in an incinerator. Because most IMAP providers provide exactly such functionality... automatically deleting any email that remains in the Trash folder more than 30 days. You don't need to manage the trash folder yourself.