subject: Does compacting in outlook delete emails? [print this page] Does compacting in outlook delete emails?
Outlook is the email client that more commonly used among many people. You generally save a lot of files in it and never try to take a backup of data until you encounter any problem. One problem where email loss occurs is compacting.
Whenever you erase an email in Outlook, it is relocated to the Deleted Items folder. The message goes away from its previous folder, and as early as you empty the trash, it vanishes from there, as well.
In neither case is the message removed from the data file on your disk right away, yet. Modifying data files for this is a slow procedure, and you'd have to hold back or see Outlook Express replying slowly every time you erased one or two mails. This is exactly why deletion just hides out the email messages from sight.
Of course, having your complete erased messages still on disk intends a lot of space that can be recovered is laid waste to eventually, and if Outlook Express has to keep track of quite a few outdated messages this itself can imply a retardation of certain activities.
So Outlook Express tries out to clear away these erased electronic mails physically at times. This it names "compressing".
Don't Disrupt the Compaction Procedure
It is crucial that the procedure of compressing folders is not disturbed. If permitted to complete, compressing insures that your Outlook Express functions smoothly and disk space will not be wasted. So, compression never deleted emails unless it is interrupted.
If the compression procedure was interrupted or the Outlook Express data files get damaged for some other cause, Outlook Express may begin to empty folders. These mails can be recovered by using some recovery software and undelete lost email.
