Are you unable to find older emails in Outlook, especially if you have multiple mailboxes configured? If you’ve encountered a situation where searching for older emails yields no results, or you only see your most recent 6 to 12 months of messages, you’re not alone.
You might have noticed a message at the bottom of your inbox saying, “Currently displaying all messages newer than 12 months” or “Click here to view more on Microsoft Exchange.“
After clicking this hyperlink, you can access older emails, but only for your main email account. What about the other mailboxes in Outlook? Are those older emails still missing or limited to a specific time frame?
If this sounds familiar, you’re likely facing a common issue related to Outlook’s configuration settings. But don’t worry, it’s an easy fix!
Why Are Older Emails Missing?
The reason your older emails are disappearing is due to a limitation in the way Outlook stores your email data. This limitation is often related to a feature called “Cached Exchange Mode.”
Cached Exchange Mode allows Outlook to store a local copy of your mailbox on your computer. This enables you to access your emails even when you’re offline. By default, Outlook only stores emails from the last 12 months locally. Older emails are still on the server, but they aren’t immediately visible in Outlook.
How to Fix the Problem
To access all your emails, including the older ones, you can adjust the settings in Outlook. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Open Outlook and click on the File tab.
- Select Account Settings, and then click Account Settings again from the dropdown menu.
- In the Account Settings window, select your email account and click on Change.
- You will see a screen that shows your Cached Exchange Mode settings.
- Ensure that Cached Exchange Mode is enabled (this is usually checked by default). (In the image: 1)
- By default, Outlook caches only the last 12 months of emails. You can adjust this by moving the slider to cache more emails if needed. (In the image: 2)
- Click on More Settings. (In the image: 3)
- In the More Settings window, go to the Advanced tab. (In the image: 1)
- Uncheck the box that says Download shared folders. This setting can sometimes limit the visibility of older emails in shared mailboxes. (In the image: 2)
- Click Apply, then OK. (In the image: 3)
- Click OK again to save your changes.
Final Thoughts
By following these steps, you should now have access to all your older emails in Outlook, regardless of which mailbox they belong to. This simple fix ensures that the default settings do not limit your emails and are always available when needed.
If you continue to experience issues or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team at Empire Technologies. We’re here to help you make the most of your Outlook experience.