(You may be asked to confirm that you want to permanently delete the message. That’s Shift-Delete, simultaneously, to permanently delete the message. Once the message is selected, hold down the SHIFT key and press DELETE. Once you’re turned off any preview features, then you can safely select the message with a single click.(You should still be able to see the From, Date, etc. Make sure both buttons are “de-selected” and you cannot see any of the actual message content in your Inbox.Even a preview of the email, without actually opening it in a new window, may trigger malware that’s included with the email. Step 3: Now, select the 'Auto-Archive.' Step 4: If 'Archive items in this folder using the default settings' is enabled, then click.
Step 2: After selecting the mail folder, right-click on it and select 'Properties' from the menu. First, before you even single-click on the offending email, be sure you’ve turned off AutoPreview (the feature that allows you to see the first couple of lines directly beneath each message’s header information) and the Preview Pane (the feature that shows a window at the bottom or side of your Inbox to allow you to scroll through the message without opening it). Now, go to your Outlook client and select the mail folder with emails older than a specific period to delete them.Once you decide that something in your Inbox needs to be gone, here’s how you skip over the Deleted Items folder entirely: But that’s a whole other discussion.) Safely (and permanently) deleting email In other words, if you’re trying to do the electronic version of shredding documents, this trick won’t help you. This feature does not, however, provide a way to circumvent any sort of forensic recovery of individual emails from your account in the event of a lawsuit, investigation, etc. (I also say “permanently” because, as that word implies, once it’s gone, there is no way for you to retrieve it within Outlook, so don’t do this lightly. And, depending on your Outlook settings, it may stay there a while, lurking and still posing a potential security threat.
All Outlook’s done at that point is move it from your Inbox (or whatever subfolder it’s in) to the Deleted Items folder. I say “permanently” because, if you simply hit the Delete key in Outlook, that email isn’t really deleted. But when I see something in my own inbox that looks suspicious, I err on the side of caution by permanently deleting it. I’ll be the first to tell you: I’m no expert on spam and email security, so I can’t give you a rundown of all the dangers in this area.
Depending on how well your spam catcher of choice works, you may still see the occasional shifty-looking email in your Microsoft Outlook inbox – you know, something with a weird subject line, from a name you don’t recognize, etc.īut before you open it up or even click on it, be warned: It may be carrying dangerous cargo, and not always in the form of an attachment.