Outlook 2010: Protect folders or email from deleting


  1. Posts : 136
    Windows 7
       #1

    Outlook 2010: Protect folders or email from deleting


    Hi,

    I am wondering if we can protect a given folder (sent, inbox,..customized folder) in outlook 2010 to avoid an accidental deleting?

    I looked in the outlook settings but nothing figures in there!

    And idea?

    Thanks
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 997
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
       #2

    sevener said:
    Hi,

    I am wondering if we can protect a given folder (sent, inbox,..customized folder) in outlook 2010 to avoid an accidental deleting?

    I looked in the outlook settings but nothing figures in there!

    And idea?

    Thanks
    It is hard to " accidentally " delete an e-mail. It takes at least 2 clicks to delete an e-mail.
    Even then, you can still retrieve it in Deleted Items folder.

    That should be more than enough to safe-guard accidental delete.

    Anyway, I don't believe there is such as option that you are asking for. But then, I could be wrong.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #3

    Outlook has always been designed to make "accidental" deletions difficult. You can't write protect an offline file, or else Outlook will throw up errors.

    Is this an Exchange account, or something like personal e-mail, like a POP3 account?
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  4. Posts : 67
    Windows XP Pro x86, Windows Vista Home Premium x86, Windows 7 Pro x64, Win2k3, Win2k8, Ubuntu
       #4

    If it is an Exchange account, then you can also have the "Recover Deleted Items" options to recover emails that have even been cleared from the Deleted Items and even items deleted with a Shift+Del that skip the Deleted Items folder.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 136
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Thank you for your answers.
    It is pop account.
    By "accidently" I mean that, when we empty the folder for example, in this case all message will be deleted.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 5,795
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #6

    That's the point of the Recycle Bin, though. You have to manually clean it out. I have had to get tough on some of my users, but I found a few of them were actually using the Recycle Bin as storage...for things they were deciding on deleting. That's the wrong way to approach it.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 67
    Windows XP Pro x86, Windows Vista Home Premium x86, Windows 7 Pro x64, Win2k3, Win2k8, Ubuntu
       #7

    I agree, the Deleted Items folder should not be used as storage. I would suggest making a "pending" folder or something of the sorts that you move things into temporarily until you are sure whether or not you want to delete them so that there is no accidentally emptying the Deleted Items and losing the emails contained in there.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1
    Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate - 32-bit
       #8

    To those who say it is hard to delete an email in Outlook, simply sit on it and hit the "delete" button. It deletes it. The fact that it goes into Deleted Files doesn't help if you open and close Outlook frequently and "empty deleted files on closing" is enabled.

    I have a sensitive mouse, who tends to jump to my open Outlook when I am trying to select and delete something else.
    I frequently delete the email that it hits.

    So, to tell people how to rescue files from "recover deleted", or "deleted" folder, or "recycle bin", does not answer the question.

    Is there a way to flag or mark an email in Outlook from being accidentally deleted - no matter HOW it is accidentally deleted?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 9,746
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit sp1
       #9

    Hi aschumm, welcome to the Forum.

    There is no way to prevent deleting an email if the user persists in deleting it. I have my Outlook 2013 set so it warns me on closing that it will delete selected items on closing, so I can cancel closing & recover the email.

    The best way to prevent accidentally deleting an email is to have a separate folder to store emails that you don't want deleted. Just drag the email in question to your separate folder & call the folder something like "never delete". :)
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 2,467
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #10

    The fundamental problem is that programs have no way to determine if a deletion is "accidental" or not. At some point everyone will want to really delete an email. Outlook is no different, and it provides no way to make an email undeletable.

    The solution to cover for such accidents is the same as for every other data you could have: schedule an automatic backup to perform periodic copies of the .pst file, maybe daily or even more frequent. In case of an accident, youcan restore the deleted mail from the backup file.
      My Computer


 

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