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Electronic Mail

Recovering Deleted Emails

SUMMARY: Deleted some e-mail and you want to have it back? Recovering it is not an easy task, and sometimes it isn't possible. This tip, however, may provide some suggestions.

If you delete an email message using one of the more popular email programs and need to recover it, you may have hope. Most email programs have a "Deleted" folder or "Recycle Bin". Just navigate to that folder and see if your old email is there.

If the email is NOT present in this folder, you have a couple of possible choices. If you know some information about the email (such as its sender's e-mail address, time, date, subject, etc.) you *may*, with the help of a nice and friendly ISP, be able to have them recover the message. It's a long shot, but it may work.

You also may want to consider purchasing a file undelete program such as Norton's Utilities. Such software can, in some instances, recover deleted files such as e-mails.

Recovering deleted e-mails is NOT an easy task, but it is possible with a lot of help and a lot of luck. The moral is - be careful before deleting email, especially permanently from a "Recycle Bin" or "Deleted" folder.

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The MalekTips website was created in 1998 by Andrew Malek of Envision Programming. The page's goal is to freely disperse computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. Tips are organized to be easy to find, and are presented clearly, in easy-to-understand language. MalekTips also provides information and links to public-domain, open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial software available for download. < more >