An e-mail was accidentally deleted

Accidentally thrown away an important e-mail, deleted an entire folder, or even removed an e-mail address? Often, it can be recovered. The sooner you act, the better your chances.

Step 1: check the Trash

A deleted message usually goes first to the Trash, Deleted items or Trash folder. Check there in the webmail (see Opening webmail) and in your e-mail program. Also look in the Archive folder: on a phone, swiping sometimes archives a message instead of deleting it.

Use the webmail search function and choose to search in all folders.

Step 2: think about your other devices

• If you use IMAP (the default), everything is the same on all your devices. What you delete on your phone is also gone on your computer.
• If you use POP3 somewhere, that device may still have a copy. Check there (see IMAP or POP3: what's the difference?).

Step 3: restore with WebOké Backups

Is the message no longer in the Trash? Then you can retrieve it from our backups. Every night we make a backup of your package, including your mailboxes, and we keep it for 30 days. You restore it yourself in My WebOké using WebOké Backups (see Can I also do this in My WebOké? WebOké Backups):

1. In My WebOké, under My Products, open the WebOké Backups page.
2. Choose the package, then under Moment, select a backup from before you deleted the e-mail.
3. Under Blocks, choose the mailbox.
4. Under Method, choose one of these two options:
   • Only restore what is missing or changed: the deleted e-mail comes back, and everything that has arrived since then stays in place.
   • As a copy next to the current one: the backup is placed in a new mailbox. Your current mailbox stays exactly as it is.
5. Check the summary and click Start restore. You'll receive an e-mail when it's done.

Please note: Don't choose Full restore if you're only missing a few messages. Doing so will remove all mail that arrived after the chosen moment.

A message that arrived and was deleted again on the same day isn't in a backup yet. Unfortunately, we can't recover that.

Deleted an entire e-mail address?

If you deleted an e-mail address under E-mail Accounts in DirectAdmin, the mail is also gone from the server (see Deleting an e-mail address). Restore the mailbox with WebOké Backups as described above. If that doesn't work, create a ticket and mention the address and roughly when you deleted it.

Made a backup yourself?

Did you make a backup yourself with Backup and Restore in DirectAdmin, including the mail data? Then you can restore that too (see Restoring a DirectAdmin backup).

Does mail disappear on its own?

• If SpamAssassin is set to delete, mail wrongly marked as spam disappears without you noticing (see SpamAssassin Setup).
• A SPAM Filter can discard messages (see SPAM Filters: blocking senders, domains and words).
• E-mail programs can automatically empty the Trash on exit, and a POP3 program can delete mail from the server. Check the settings.

Can I also do this in My WebOké?

Yes. Restoring is actually done in My WebOké, using WebOké Backups. In DirectAdmin itself, you can only restore a backup that you made yourself earlier.