Gmail Recovery

What options exist for deleted email?

When you delete emails, they usually go to a trash folder from where you can recover them again. This is nothing specific to Gmail but is a feature on almost every email service. If more than 30 days have gone by, or if you chose to Empty Trash or used the Delete Forever button on any of your trashed mail, then Gmail policy states those messages are gone forever and cannot be recovered. 

Again, if you delete an email, it stays in your Trash for 30 days. After 30 days, emails are permanently deleted from the Trash. If you mark an email as spam, it stays in Spam for 30 days. After 30 days, emails are permanently deleted from Spam.

There's only one copy of every Gmail email. If you deleted an email from one place, like a label or a device, it is deleted from Gmail entirely. Gmail groups all replies to an original email together in a single conversation. When you click or tap delete, the entire conversation is deleted, including the original email and any replies.

If the mail you have deleted by mistake is still in Trash, you can select it and Move it back to your Inbox using the Move button. To search for missing email and for additional detailed steps visit the Google Help Center link Gmail messages are missing.

What if you’ve emptied or deleted them from the Trash too? Once an email is deleted from the trash, it’s gone forever, which is why it is called a permanent delete. For security Google stores your deleted emails on its servers for some time even after the trash is cleared. This can be very helpful if you want to attempt and possibly recover permanently deleted emails in Gmail related to certain situations.

If you discovered that some or all of the emails in your inbox have been deleted or have disappeared as a result of unauthorized account access or a technical issue, you are facing this type of scenario.  

You can attempt a recovery of the deleted emails and messages inside your Gmail account using Google's Gmail Message Recovery Tool.

Use this Google link to Report the problem to Gmail. It might be possible to recover your deleted emails. If you're using Gmail through your work, school, or other organization, contact your Admin.

It is unclear for how long Google stores these permanently deleted emails. Some people have successfully recovered all permanently lost emails while some others have not been as successful. There’s a good chance that if you have manually cleared your trash folder, you may never get your emails back. However, if your emails were deleted automatically after being in the trash folder for 30 days, there’s also a good chance that you can recover them. This isn’t a rule set in stone, however, so there’s no harm in trying.

Steps to Recover Permanently Deleted Gmail:

  1.  Go to Gmail Message Recovery Tool.
  2.  Read and follow steps, click Continue.

If your email recovery request was successful, you will begin to see your lost emails in your Google Gmail. 

Steps with Google Workspace for specific Admin help: 

• If you're using a Gmail account through your work or school (Google Workspace account), your administrator may have the ability to recover permanently deleted emails for a limited time. Contact your IT department or Workspace administrator for help. Here's the related Google support article: Restore a user's permanently deleted email.

Steps with Gmail emails saved to a third-party email client:

If you downloaded or saved your Gmail emails with a third-party email client, they may remain there even if you deleted them from Gmail.  

How it works:

• Downloading vs. Syncing: There are two primary ways to set up a third-party client with Gmail:

  • POP3 Protocol: This method downloads a copy of your Gmail messages to your local computer. Deleting the email from Gmail won't affect the downloaded copy on your computer.

  • IMAP Protocol: This creates a two-way sync between your Gmail and your third-party email client. Changes you make in one place (like deleting a message) will be reflected in the other.

• Client Storage: Third-party email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail store your downloaded emails on your local device (your computer's hard drive). Check to see if the permanently deleted emails are still available on the device.

Require further help? Then contact us.