# Outlook erased my whole inbox! where did it go? (help!!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873 "2009-05-09T20:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/1 "2009-05-09T20:35:04Z")
Outlook Express offered me a message “to free up disk space, Outlook can compress your files” So I clicked “OK”, and didnt think anything more about it. Now, a half hour later, I go back to my email inbox–and it is **totally empty!** HELP!!!several hundred emails are missing… What might have happened, and where did they go? Has this happened to anybody else? Is it a virus? My computer is a simple PC with legally registered software: Windows XP home edition Service Pack 2 , and antivirus NOD 32 , which just updated itself today The “Sent items” folder is normal and untouched. The “Deleted items” folder is also normal and untouched (I usually keep it pretty clean, so it holds the last 10 or 15 emails I deleted today and yesterday,-but it doesn’t have any of the the hundreds of items now missing from the inbox) The other folders (Drafts and Outbox) are also normal , untouched, and empty, as they should be, because I never use them) The Windows recycle bin is also untouched–it has a dozen items I’ve erased over the past week, but no emails. . ---
**Author:** ![caused\_two](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@caused\_two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caused_two)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/2 "2009-05-12T00:09:38Z")
I don’t know outlook very well, but this website might be helpful: [http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=29528058&threadid=29528057](http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=29528058&threadid=29528057) Also, if you go to File-\> Open -\> data file (I think, I don’t have Outlook on this computer), the file dialog box may have any archived or backed up files that you have saved in the past. These are usually saved in your Documents and Settings folder with the extension .pst. The path is something like C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. This file is hidden, so you may have to change settings to view your hidden files. Anyway, I’m not sure how helpful this is. But maybe I will bump your thread and someone who knows what they are doing can come in and help! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/3 "2009-05-12T03:16:50Z")
Get out of outlook and then restart your PC. Your inbox should pop back up. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/4 "2009-05-12T07:20:43Z")
> [@caused\_two](#): > > I don’t know outlook very well, but this website might be helpful: > > [http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=29528058&threadid=29528057](http://www.eggheadcafe.com/conversation.aspx?messageid=29528058&threadid=29528057) > > Also, if you go to File-\> Open -\> data file (I think, I don’t have Outlook on this computer), the file dialog box may have any archived or backed up files that you have saved in the past. These are usually saved in your Documents and Settings folder with the extension .pst. The path is something like C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. This file is hidden, so you may have to change settings to view your hidden files. > > Anyway, I’m not sure how helpful this is. But maybe I will bump your thread and someone who knows what they are doing can come in and help! Outlook Express (very different from Outlook) stores files with a .dbx extension. Can you do a search of your computer for .dbx files and report results? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/5 "2009-05-12T18:01:06Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Outlook Express stores files with a .dbx extension. Can you do a search of your computer for .dbx files and report results? I found the file called inbox.dbx. What can I do with it now? The file has yesterday’s date, and size of 507 kbytes, which seems reasonable if it contains a few hundred short email text messages. I tried copying it to another directory, and then back to its original directory\*, but Outlook Express doesnt seem to recognize it either way. - (with a vague hope that maybe there was a physical problem on the disk or something that made the file unreadable at a specific location) ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/6 "2009-05-12T22:12:44Z")
Did you try importing Inbox.dbx specifically? I don’t use OE so I can’t give specific details, but it should have some functionality for importing OE .dbx files – probably in the File menu somewhere. Also, what version of Outlook Express is that? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/7 "2009-05-12T23:39:43Z")
Stories like this is why I NEVER let Outlook “free up disk space”. If it was such a safe procedure, it would do it without asking. The fact that it asks suggests that if something goes wrong, Microsoft can blame it on me. ---
**Author:** ![sethness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/8 "2009-10-06T06:00:56Z")
Inbox.dbx is probably not the file OP needs. He shoudl be searching for a file that ends in \*.PST and then asking Outlook to “import” that PST file. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-erased-my-whole-inbox-where-did-it-go-help/495873/9 "2009-10-06T17:04:37Z")
The OP is not using Outlook, he is using Outlook Express, which does not use a .pst file.