I’m not sure what is going on, whether people are changing their rules accidently or Outlook/Outlook.com is doing it, but several people needed my help finding missing email and discovered their rules were messed up.
The complaint goes something like this: My email is not in my Inbox. When I search for them, they are found in a folder called IPM_Subtree. If the user has a POP account or has an archive pst, the folder is named Top of Outlook Data File
IPM_Subtree (or Top of Information Store or Top of Outlook Data File) is the top-level folder in the data file, where the Outlook Today home page is normally shown. The messages got there one of two ways: you've somehow dragged them into that folder or have a rule mistakenly moving mail there.
Recovering the email is not difficult; it does not require the use of any 3rd party programs or MFCMAPI (contrary to some information floating around the Internet). Simply disable Outlook Today, select all, then use the Move to command to move them back to the Inbox, then turn Outlook Today back on.
When Outlook Today is off, the top of the mailbox looks like a normal folder:
Before moving the mail back to the Inbox, check your rules and make sure any that are moving mail are moving the messages to the expected folder.
To turn off Outlook Today and move the messages:
- Right click on the folder in the Navigation pane and choose Properties (or Data File Properties).
- On the Properties dialog, select the Home page tab
- Untick ‘Show home page by default for this folder’.
- Click Ok to close the dialog.
- Select all the messages (Ctrl+A)
- Open the Move to command (Ctrl+Shift+V) and select your Inbox.
- Repeat steps 1 -3, ticking ‘Show home page..’ to re-enable Outlook Today.
Back in the early days of Outlook, many users used that location to store (or hide) messages. While you can still do that, don’t forget where they are or how to access them.
Melissa says
I am having the same issue where emails got moved to the IPM_Subtree folder by an out of office rule. When I disable Outlook Today, I do not see the emails or the IPM_Subtree folder, so I am not able to copy them into the Inbox. I know the timeframe the rule was on, but am having problems doing an advanced find or anything to show me all the messages so I can move them back to the Inbox. Any help is appreciated.
Johnny Lawless says
Diane, I hope you can help. I have been reading forums for weeks to find emails I moved into a folder (then out due to lack of server space) and now cannot find them. I see your replies more than anyone else's and you actually know what you're talking about so I am delighted to have found an open thread. I moved emails from an account I was shutting down into created folders in Office 365 for my Macbook Pro. They synced with the server, causing Microsoft to warn me that I would not be able to send and receive until I freed some space. I moved them to another account with more storage, but it doesn't seem like they ever synced. I saw them on my iPhone (and still do). Though they show data in the preview lines, most of them show a message saying, "This message has not been downloaded from the server". Apple normally provides great support but they could not help since it was Outlook. GoDaddy did more harm than good for me. I have pieced together everything except about 5 months of 2023 through backups I'd created and synced data to the laptop where I originally made the moves. I no longer have access to the email address I moved them from, but have Microsoft business accounts for the 2 domains I moved them to. I've searched as much as I could in library/group containers, blah blah. I can find all but that 5 month's worth of emails. There has to be a file somewhere on the server or the laptop that contains that data, but nobody seems to be able to help. Again, after weeks of searching, I am hopeful to have found this open thread. I hope you can help.
Danum says
Thank you, I admit this had me bewildered until I found this
Thanks again
Anja C says
Hello,
I have the same issue with just one sender. When I right-click on the affected folder and choose data file properties (only option available of the two mentioned), then I only see a "general" tab, no other tabs (home page, permissions), so I am stuck. I am the owner and have full permission. I am using Office 2019. Thank you so much in advance.
Jimmy Mahone says
Searching Internet ... high and low ... for directions on how to permanently purge IPM_Subtree's Trash folder. My Outlook PST has become too large for efficient processing, because I keep e-mails as my correspondence. However, Microsoft severely limited Outlook for my purposes, and I have no patience for dealing with Archive PSTs.
Yesterday, I deleted well over 6,000 files and folders, thinking this would reduce PST's size. That should fix things, right?
Today, running Stellar Repair for Outlook app, horrified to see nothing was "permanently deleted." They remain in the IPM_Subtree's Trash folder. What part of "permanently delete" does Microsoft not understand?
Please forgive my fit of pique. I started with DOS and WordPerfect, and always strove to be a "power user." However, the kids who write programs suit themselves while making apps far too difficult and complicated for ordinary mortals to manage.
Enough of this ... thanks for listening ... all the best, all the time ...
Jimmy in South Carolina
Tomas Persson says
I've found the IPM-SUBTREE folder but can't remove mails from it. Copy works fine but removal ends up with an Outlook Authority message. I've full authorisation to this computer as an admin.
Rita says
Diane, you are an absolute gem. I thought I had 'lost' my emails for good. I was in the second group (accidently made rule sending inbox emails back into my inbox) and they just 'disappeared'. It was a stroke of luck that I thought to search for one of the missing emails in 'All Outlook Items' not just the 'Current Mailbox (Inbox)' - which is where I saw the oddly named IPM_Subtree folder. One google search later and I found your article. I can't thank you enough for sharing this info, and so clearly. It worked!! A hundred blessings.
Jeyandra says
Hi, Outlook is sending mails very slowly, even for small files also its takes very long time to send, but the receiving of mail is fine.
gitte lindgren says
hi fine explanation but how to find outlook today on outlook.live.com . thats were I have that problem
Diane Poremsky says
there is no outlook today in "Outlook on the web" only in desktop Outlook. If you have mail in that folder in outlook.com, you'll need to use Outlook desktop to move it (a trial version of office will work).
Paul says
Hi, I have had a similar report when people have been using the online version of Outlook and when they are importing emails from other email services. Does the advice above still apply?
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, it doesn't matter how the mail got in the top level folder, they can recover it by disabling outlook today.