Outlook 2013 - Empty Deleted Items deletes everything from mailbox?
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 11:23 AM
Background: Outlook 2013 client connected to Exchange 2010 SP1 Server, on the LAN.
Has anyone else seen this? A possible bug?
When I use the Cleanup Tools to "empty the deleted items folder permanently", everything is deleted from the mailbox. All mail items, contacts, tasks and calendar items.
Nothing is retrievable via the "Recover Deleted Items" option.
- Changed Type Daisy CaoMicrosoft Employee, Moderator Tuesday, July 31, 2012 5:51 AM it is an issue
- Edited by Daisy CaoMicrosoft Employee, Moderator Wednesday, September 19, 2012 1:27 PM typo error in title
All Replies
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012 10:04 PM
I have experienced this same issue. I tried it once and noticed everything was gone. I received a few messages and tried emptying my recycle a second time, being very specific to make sure it said "deleted items" only and it took everything out of my inbox and deleted items.
Server is exchange 2010 SP1.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 4:24 PM
Exactly the same here.
I think we have found a bug, a very ugly one.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 8:33 PM
I installed Outlook 2013 Preview on my desktop that is connected to Exchange Server 2010 and run the empty my deleted items and it removed all my Exchange account items, Mail, Notes, Calender and Contacts. This is bad.
Nothing is retrievable via the "Recover Deleted Items" option as well.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:09 PM
Had the same thing happen, and did some testing to make sure that really was the culprit. And it was.
In my case my inbox was ok, but its subfolders were gone, as well as all my contacts and calendar items.
I uninstalled 2013 and put 2010 back on, and was able to recover the missing folders with the Recover Deleted Items menu on the Folder toolbar.
Good luck!
Dan
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 11:41 PM
Hi Everyone,
I'm sorry that you're seeing this issue. We're trying to get an in-house repro so that was can diagnose the problem and hopefully propose some sort of workaround.
Can everyone responding on this thread answer a few questions about your environment:
1. Which Exchange Server version are you connecting to (if this is an Exchange account)?
2. What does the status bar report for Exchange Connection status? "Connected to Microsoft Exchange" or "Online with Microsoft Exchange"?
3. How did you empty deleted items? Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items, or Cleanup Tools-> Empty Deleted Items?
4. Have you tried recovering deleted items, and was that successful in recovering any data?
5. Is the data missing from other locations that you access this mailbox from (mobile device, other Outlook clients, Outlook Web App)?
Sorry to pepper you with many questions, but these will be helpful in us being able to narrow down exactly what is causing the issue you're describing. Thanks to all who have already answered some subset of these questions in the other comments in this thread.
Thanks,
Justin Mahood
Program Manager - Outlook
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012 11:52 PM
Hi Justin,
In my case....
1. Exchange 2007. The first time it happened was over the net via Outlook Anywhere, the next couple were on the LAN. The delete did take a long time, and at the end said "The operation failed" or something similar.
2. Don't know sorry.
3. Right-click Deleted Items, Empty Deleted Items.
4. I was able to restore the missing items (with Outlook 2010). Couldn't find it in 2013 and didn't really trust what might happen next if I did. You should see me with Metro! :)
5. The data disappeared from OWA, and my synced phone as well. My phone is how I initially noticed it.
Hope this helps. :)
Dan
Dan
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:15 AM
Hi Justin,
in my case the following applies,
1: Server is a Windows server 2008 R2 witch Exchange 2010 SP1.
2: My statusbar reports, "online with exchange"
3: I right clicked on deleted items and selected "Empty folder"
4: I tried to recover in webmail, on a terminal server with office 2010 and in office 2013. All the deleted items were empty so nothing to recover. I did not recover anything.
5: my Windows 7 phone, Ipad and webmail are also empty.
Some other things to mention:
- After the mailbox was deleted it reported "action failed"
- My calendar is empty but this morning I did recieve a notification about a meeting.
- I upgraded from a previous version of office (office 2010)
best regards,
hans van der Stek
Microsoft Engineer Xtilton, the Netherlands
- Edited by Stekman Thursday, July 19, 2012 7:01 AM
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 11:04 AM
Justin
1. Exchange 2010 (SP2)
2. Online with Microsoft Exchange
3. Right-click on Deleted Items, Empty Folder
4. Nothing listed in Recover Deleted items (ended up with Exchange guy doing a mailbox restore)
5. OWA empty, ActiveSync client complaining that it couldn't sync
Additionally, mailbox rules and auto-complete were retained.
Anything else you need, please ask.
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 12:52 PMSame thing here. Not only that, I was getting a strange MapiExceptionNotFound error when sending to my mailbox (the one I was using to test). I even had to remove my ActiveSync connection on my iPhone and recreate it. Everything seem to magically start working over night. I still have to try and get back my email from another laptop's OST.
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 12:53 PM
Which Exchange Server version are you connecting to (if this is an Exchange account)?
14.1.218.15
How did you empty deleted items? Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items, or Cleanup Tools-> Empty Deleted Items?
Asks when exiting Outlook
Have you tried recovering deleted items, and was that successful in recovering any data?
In my case I was able to recover deleted items. I believe this was because it was taking to long to Empty Deleted Items so I canceled the process after about 2 minutes. Strange thing when I recovered it placed all the recovered items in a Outlook folder I had named Personal.
Is the data missing from other locations that you access this mailbox from (mobile device, other Outlook clients, Outlook Web App)?
Missing from my Bionic, OWA
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 1:02 PM
Not running SP1. Build 14.0.
I clicked Empty Deleted Folders. It even removed all my Recover Deleted Items. Nothing in WebApp.
Very strange...- Edited by Vinny Avallone Thursday, July 19, 2012 1:50 PM
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 2:55 PM
1. Exchange 2007 sp3
2. Online with Microsoft Exchange
3. Right-click on Deleted Items, Empty Folder
4. Didn't try
All my mail is still there. Calendar and tasks are deleted (everywhere).
Android can no longer sync tasks (3rd party app) so my tasks still exist on my phone (calendar and mail sync ok)
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 3:04 PM
Anyone on Exchange 2013 and having same issue? or is this Exchange 2010 and below at the moment?
I am on Outlook 2013 and my account is on Exchange 2013 dogfood..
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 4:10 PM
Thanks to everyone for your help and responses!
We have a repro of this problem under a certain configuration:
- An Exchange Account is configured in Online Mode (as opposed to cached Exchange mode)
- The "Cached Exchange Mode Sync Settings" administrative template policy setting is configured.
If you are in this configuration, removing the setting should resolve the issue.
If this does not match your configuration and you have confirmed this issue, please let me know! We are still actively investigating to see if there are other configurations that can result in users seeing this behavior.
Thanks,
Justin
Instructions for removing the Cached Exchange Mode Sync Settings setting:
This can be accomplished via the local Group Policy editor (gpedit.msc) or by directly removing the registry key associated with the setting.
In the Office 2013 Administrative Templates (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30341), the policy is under Microsoft Outlook 2013 -> Account Settings -> Cached Exchange Mode -> Cached Exchange Mode Sync Settings. Set the policy to "Not Configured".
The Registry Key associated with this setting is
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\office\15.0\outlook\cached mode\syncwindowsetting
or
HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\15.0\outlook\cached mode\syncwindowsetting
You can remove it by deleting the 'syncwindowsetting' value.
- Edited by Justin Mahood Thursday, July 19, 2012 4:12 PM formatting
- Proposed As Answer by Tim Hansen Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:25 PM
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 4:29 PM
Thanks Justin,
We will try it later on. Is there going to be a patch for it or do we wait for the next version?
Hans van der Stek
Xtilton, the Netherlands
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:12 PM
Experienced this same issue today. Cached Exchange Mode Sync Settings was already set to Not Configured.
Lost all contacts, calendar, notes, mail items not in inbox or sent, and tasks by right clicking on deleted items and choosing Empty Folder. Nothing available when choosing option recover deleted items.
Any other word on a possible fix?
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 9:55 PM
Emptying my deleted items in Outlook 2013 caused my entire mailbox to empty (all mail, calendar, contacts). No recovery possible. The GPO for "Cached Mode Exchange Sync Settings" is (and was) set to "not configured".
1. Which Exchange Server version are you connecting to (if this is an Exchange account)?
14.1.218.15
2. What does the status bar report for Exchange Connection status? "Connected to Microsoft Exchange" or "Online with Microsoft Exchange"?
Online with Microsoft Exchange
3. How did you empty deleted items? Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items, or Cleanup Tools-> Empty Deleted Items?
Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items
4. Have you tried recovering deleted items, and was that successful in recovering any data?
Tried "recover deleted items", but the list is empty.
5. Is the data missing from other locations that you access this mailbox from (mobile device, other Outlook clients, Outlook Web App)?
Data is missing from OWA, Other Outlook clients, and phone
- Edited by local_host Thursday, July 19, 2012 9:57 PM more information
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 9:56 PMHow to I get all my exchange data back?
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Thursday, July 19, 2012 11:37 PMRecover from a backup.
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Friday, July 20, 2012 7:34 AM
the same thing happened to me connecting to a hotmail account with Exchange active sync.
i wondered why outlook downloaded the whole mailbox everytime i restartet it. but now it makes sense, i always cleared the trash Folder :)
but like i said, it is not a exchange only Problem - also happens with Hotmail. -
Friday, July 20, 2012 5:39 PM
Hi Everyone,
Thank you all for your responses. The information you've provided has been invaluable in helping us track down the root of the problem.
We have another repro that we believe is how most users are encountering the problem:
- Have Outlook 2010 installed with an Exchange account in Online Mode, but with an .OST file associated with the profile (this can be the result of switching from Cached Mode at some point in the past)
- Install Outlook 2013 (upgrade or side-by-side) and use the Online Mode profile
To completely avoid this issue, make sure your Outlook 2013 Exchange Account is configured for Cached Exchange Mode.
If anyone has issues with this workaround, please post on the forum to let us know.
Thanks,
Justin
Instructions for putting Outlook 2013 in Cached Exchange Mode:
- Click File->Account Settings -> Account Settings
- Select the Exchange account, and click Change
- Make sure that Use Cached Exchange Mode is selected, and click Next
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Friday, July 20, 2012 6:35 PM
I had exactly the same issue, however I wasn't able to recover my sub folders when I reverted back to 2010.
THE ISSUE
I upgraded 2010 to 2013 and Outlook 2013 wiped my all my subfolders under the inbox and my mailbox no longer shows those folders though I can see some of these emails in the "Large Mail" list and it shows me some missing folders but when I select Move but I get an error!
I am also experiencing the "The Operation Failed" error when sending mail from Outlook 2013 and now also 2010.
I uninstalled 2013 and reinstalled 2010 and then also did a repair to get rid of the error "The Operation Failed" basically now I'm unable to send out emails and dont see any of my sub folders!!!
I did a repair of the ost file using scanpst (Outlook 2010) it states it repaired the file but that didnt seem to fix the issue! I was able to manually force outlook to use an older ost file but I lose 2 weeks of data and it doesnt sync with the server!!!- Which Exchange Server version are you connecting to ? Exchange 2007
- What does the status bar report for Exchange Connection status? "Connected to Microsoft Exchange"
- 3. How did you empty deleted items? Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items, or Cleanup Tools-> Empty Deleted Items? Did not delete - noticed missing sub folders after upgrading to 2013
- Have you tried recovering deleted items, and was that successful in recovering any data? Nothing in deleted folder
- Is the data missing from other locations that you access this mailbox from (mobile device, other Outlook clients, Outlook Web App)? Yes
- Edited by Ab Ye Friday, July 20, 2012 7:10 PM
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Saturday, July 21, 2012 6:45 PM
Does anyone know if this problem extends to a Hotmail account which shows as "CONNECT TO EXCHANGE ACTIVESYNCH" on the status bar?
How do I "make sure my Outlook 2013 Exchange Account is configured for Cached Exchange Mode."? Where in Outlook is this setting?
Gateway laptop Windows 7 Professional SP1
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Monday, July 23, 2012 8:40 PM
Happened to me!
1. Which Exchange Server version are you connecting to (if this is an Exchange account)? Exch2010 SP2
2. What does the status bar report for Exchange Connection status? "Connected to Microsoft Exchange" or "Online with Microsoft Exchange"? Online with Microsft Exchange
3. How did you empty deleted items? Right Click on Deleted Items -> Empty Deleted Items, or Cleanup Tools-> Empty Deleted Items? Right clicked deleted items folder which had 23 emails in it and chose Empty Folder...took forever and said 13 mins remaining..so hit cancel and sure enough everything is gone! Emails, calendar items, notes, etc...all gone
4. Have you tried recovering deleted items, and was that successful in recovering any data?yes...nothing is listed. I had a 1gb mailbox before...on exchange now lists mailbox at 1.5mb
5. Is the data missing from other locations that you access this mailbox from (mobile device, other Outlook clients, Outlook Web App)? Yes checked OWA and iPad
Any updates on thsi bug?
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012 5:03 PM
I just had the same issue as everybody else. Luckily I was able to find this small "thread" of hope. Hopefully Justin/Microsoft will be able to point us to a fix very soon. I am not hopeful that I will get any of my information back unless I can pull off some Exchange server backup magic, but nonetheless, here goes:
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1. Microsoft Exchange 2007
2. "ONLINE WITH MICROSOFT EXCHANGE" in caps as specified
3. I right-clicked on "Deleted Items" and chose to "Empty Deleted Items Folder"
4. Tried recovering deleted items through outlook to no avail. Will be trying to recover from the server level here in the next couple of hours.
5. The data is not only missing from my PC, but also from a remote desktop that I log in with running Outlook/Office 2007, and also logging in through the Outlook Web Access that my company offers. The data is unreachable from any of these locations.
Thanks for jumping on this, Justin, and please let us know if there is anything that we can do SOON.
~Keith
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012 7:29 PM
I had the same issue over the weekend, our exchange administrators have recovered my folders, calendar, contacts and to do list. My inbox stayed intact.
I will wait for the official fix from Microsoft before I try it again. Chances we take when we are in Beta land.
Thanks
Raymond
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012 10:26 PM
Yep in the same boat as everyone else. Installed the first day and killed my mailbox straight away.
What was odd was the totality of it! The Mailbox contents in it's entirety were destroyed on the Exchange Server. Every custom folder was gone and Recoverable Items was even empty. Total mailbox size was 492Kb from 450MB. Had to restore from backups.
Anyway
Exchange 2010 SP2
Upgrade from Office Pro 2010 to Office Pro 2013 on a clean Win 8 RP install. Exchange account was added with Cached Mode initially and it occurred over http but when I replicated the event I was on site with Exchange online and not using cached mode.
I will say I can delete individual emails and selected emails with no issue. I've only been able to replicate the event by right clicking the Recycle Bin and Empty all items.
Creating a new development environment and will attempt again. Keep you updated.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012 8:03 AM
FWIW, it also affected me, looks like your 2nd repro was closest to my incident. Can provide further details if you want them.
Will there be a programmatic fix, we've told no-one to install it for the time being.
Jeff
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012 8:53 PM
Hi Everyone,
Thanks again for all of your feedback in reporting this issue. We’ve just released a patch to the Office 2013 Preview that prevents this situation from occurring. If you installed using the streaming installer, you’ll get the update pushed to you automatically (please do not attempt to install the MSI patch). If you installed Outlook 2013 via MSI, please go install the patch right now.
Workaround steps if you’ve hit this issue:
- Immediately put your Outlook 2013 client in Cached Mode. This will keep you from hitting the bug in the future (instructions are below).
- Attempt to recover your data from the Exchange Dumpster, using Recover Deleted Items (instructions are below)
- If you can’t recover your deleted items (as many have indicated here), please reach out to your Exchange admin to investigate the dumpster on the server. We’re working with the Exchange team here in Redmond to see if we can offer any other options to try and recover any lost information.
Again, thank you very much for your patience and the data you’ve helped us gather, it was invaluable in helping us identify and fix the issue.
Thanks,
Justin Mahood
Program Manager, Microsoft
Instructions to put Outlook 2013 in Cached Mode:
- Click File->Account Settings -> Account Settings
- Select the Exchange account, and click Change
- Make sure that Use Cached Exchange Mode is selected, and click Next
Instructions to Recover Deleted Items from Exchange:
- In the Ribbon, select the Folder Tab
- In the “Clean Up” chunk, click “Recover Deleted Items”
- If items are visible, select those you want to recover and click the Envelope icon to restore them to your mailbox
- Proposed As Answer by riceboyler Thursday, July 26, 2012 7:23 PM
- Marked As Answer by Daisy CaoMicrosoft Employee, Moderator Tuesday, July 31, 2012 5:51 AM
- Marked As Answer by DennisP - ECOMicrosoft Employee, Owner Tuesday, July 31, 2012 7:11 PM
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012 11:03 PM
Awesome, thanks Justin.
Got some bad news though. The KB page on your link, but both the 64 and 32 bit links to the patch are broken.They go to a page that says "We are sorry, the page you requested cannot be found."
cheers
Daniel
See below for search results close to your request, or try a
new search.Dan
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Thursday, July 26, 2012 12:42 AM
For those of us on the streaming installer, is there a way to tell that we got the update? A new version number or something? I'd like to know when I am "safe".
Best,
David
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Thursday, July 26, 2012 9:47 AM
Awesome, thanks Justin.
Got some bad news though. The KB page on your link, but both the 64 and 32 bit links to the patch are broken.That could be due to synchronization of the servers (article pages still use GUID links instead of Download IDs). You can use the links below as well;
Download page 32-bit installer KB2737132
Download page 64-bit installer KB2737132There is no visible version increase in Outlook itself but the EMSMDB32.DLL file in the Office15 installation folder will be updated and show a date of July 22 and a version number of 15.0.4128.1019
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Outlook guides and more: HowTo-Outlook.com
Outlook Quick Tips: MSOutlook.info -
Sunday, July 29, 2012 8:52 PMI just ran into exactly the same situation, and my backup doesn't seem to be working. Does any-one know of a way to recover all these deleted items from the exchange edb? I secured a copy right after the mailbox was emptied. Please help me with this, my dad died last year and his last mails were in there, I'm really upset now.
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Monday, July 30, 2012 3:17 PMThe answer's already been posted above. Access Exchange with Outlook 2010, & then use the "Recover Deleted Items" function (I hope I got that wording right).
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Wednesday, August 08, 2012 11:54 AM
Hi Justin,
I just experienced the same issue reported here. I did use the stream line installer so I assume I am safe even though all my mail has been deleted.
In my case my organization is upgrading to Exchange 2010 which I think I was on the server at the time this happened. We are upgrading from Exchange 2007.
2. Right now it says it is online with Exchange.
3. I did not do any of these recently, when I opened my mail in the morning it was simply gone. I think about two weeks ago I right clicked and emptied folder but my mail disappeared yesterday.
4. Yes but nothing is there to recover which I have never seen.
5. Yes data from all my devices are missing. I have one computer that I have not had on since I lost my mail and it might be there if I keep it offline. I will try to recover from there later.
My email team is looking to see if they can recover from our end, but I think they are moving to escalate to Microsoft for recovery, but I am waiting to here back form them.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:18 AMHi,
You should try to use backup to restore your data.
or
You can also try to use any professional Exchange recovery software.
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