Email attachments provide a convenient way to send files and documents to others. However, accidentally deleting an important attachment can be frustrating. Fortunately, with the right tools and techniques, restoring deleted email attachments is possible in many cases. Here is an in-depth guide on how to recover deleted email attachments in 2024:
Check Your Email Client’s Deleted Items Folder
The first place to check when an attachment goes missing is your email client’s deleted items folder. Outlook, Gmail, and other popular email services save deleted messages in this folder for a period of time before permanently erasing them.
To restore a deleted attachment in Outlook:
- Open the Deleted Items folder
- Locate the email message with the missing attachment
- Right-click on the message and select Move > Other Folder
- Select the folder you want to move the message back to
This will move the email with the attachment back to your inbox or another folder.
For Gmail:
- Go to the Deleted items folder
- Find the email with the deleted attachment
- Click the Move to Inbox button
The restored message will appear back in your inbox with the attachment intact.
Use Your Email Provider’s Online Backup
Major email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com store regular backups online. You can restore entire accounts or individual items from a certain date.
To restore from a Gmail backup:
- Go to Settings > Restore data
- Enter a date range to search
- Select the data to restore
- Click Restore
This allows recovering deleted emails and attachments up to 30 days in the past.
Try Third-Party Email Recovery Software
If the attachment is not in the deleted items folder or online backups, specialized email recovery software offers another option. These tools work by scanning your hard drive and restoring deleted email files.
Popular recovery programs like Stellar Data Recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and Disk Drill include email recovery features. Look for one that retrieves attachments and supports your email client.
To use, download and install the software, then:
- Select the drive to scan
- Choose Outlook Data Files, Thunderbird, or other email type
- Preview recoverable emails and attachments
- Save the files to another location
This method can recover attachments deleted weeks or months ago in many cases.
Contact the Recipient
If you sent the deleted attachment to someone else, contact the recipient and ask them to send it back to you. This relies on the recipient still having the attachment.
Let them know:
- You accidentally deleted an important attachment
- The subject line of the email it was sent in
- What day you sent it
- Request they reply with the file attached
Hopefully they still have it and can quickly re-send the attachment.
Check Your Cloud Storage
If you used a cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox to upload the attachment, it might be recoverable from there. Cloud services retain files even if deleted from your local computer and email.
To restore from the cloud:
- Sign in to the cloud service website
- Open the trash or recovery folder
- Search for the file name of the attachment
- Restore it back to your cloud drive
Use File Recovery Software
Powerful data recovery software like Recuva and EaseUS Data Recovery can hunt for deleted files on your hard drive. This gives you a chance of getting back an attachment if all else fails.
To recover with file recovery software:
- Install and scan your hard drive
- Look in the email client folder (e.g. Outlook data files)
- Search for the file extension of the attachment (e.g. .doc, .pdf)
- Preview and restore the found attachment
With luck, the attachment file still exists for recovery.
Avoid Future Deleted Attachment Problems
To avoid dealing with this issue again:
- Empty email trash folders infrequently
- Back up your email locally and to the cloud
- Use file sync services like DropBox to access attachments anywhere
- Save important attachments to your documents folder
- Be careful before deleting emails with attachments
Following these practices will help ensure you do not lose important attachments.
Conclusion
While deleting an email attachment is frustrating, there are many options for getting it back in 2024. First check your email client’s deleted items, providers’ backups, and the cloud. If that fails, specialized recovery software offers more chances. With the right approach, you can restore that important attachment.
