It is very common for a business or organisation to have a shared mailbox for the day to day running of the business. A typical example of this is having a shared mailbox for enquiries that people may send them. This mailbox is typically shared between relevant people in the organisation who can respond to the email and answer the enquiry based on their specific knowledge. However, many people have found that in Outlook, there are times when emails from their shared mailbox keep disappearing and can not be found. 

The first thing users should do is ensure that the disappearing emails are not in the deleted items folder. Accidentally deleting emails is an easy mistake to make, especially in a shared mailbox where multiple people have access to the emails. If the emails are in the deleted folder, you can easily restore them to your shared mailbox. 

If the emails are not in the deleted folder, many users have found that if their retention policy is set to default, then they often experience emails disappearing from their shared mailboxes. This blog post will demonstrate the steps to ensure emails from your shared mailbox don’t disappear, including how to restore emails from the deleted items folder and how to set a retention policy to your shared mailbox to ensure that the emails don’t disappear. 

Restore emails from ‘Deleted items’ folder if shared mailbox emails are disappearing:

1. On Outlook, select the ‘deleted items’ folder from the left hand side panel
2. Right click on the email you want to restore and select ‘Restore’ from the dropdown list

Setting a retention policy for a shared mailbox if emails are disappearing:

1. Go to Office.com and sign in using your credentials
2. From the panel on the left hand side, click on the ‘Admin’ icon
3. From the left hand side panel, under ‘Admin centers, click on ‘Exchange’ 
4. Front the panel on the left hand side, click on ‘Classic Exchange admin center’
5. Underneath ‘compliance management’, select ‘retention policies’
6. Under the text highlighted in yellow, click on the plus sign
7. A window will appear. Add a name for the retention policy 
8. Underneath that box, create a retention tag by clicking on the plus button
9. Select a pre-made retention tag from the list and then click ‘OK’
10. Then, from the left hand side panel, click on ‘Recipients’ 
11. From the panel at the top, select ‘Shared’
12. From the list of shared mailboxes, double click on the one you’d like to apply the retention policy to
13. In the new window, select ‘mailbox features’
14. Go to the retention policy drop down list and select the retention policy you made
15. At the bottom of the window, click on ‘Save’

Although the steps to creating a  retention policy are quite simple, please be aware that you need an admin view in order to be able to create a new retention policy and apply it to a shared mailbox. 

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How are retention policies relevant to the issue with my shared mailbox?

Retention policies are typically used to set how long emails and the information/ data in them are stored. It is a great tool to help businesses comply with data protection laws to ensure they are not storing client information for longer than what is necessary. By creating these retention policies, users can decide when emails should be deleted or archived. 

One of the options that users can decide is to never delete emails. When this option is selected, the retention policy ensures that the email is kept stored and not deleted. Many users have explained that when this retention policy is applied to a shared mailbox that keeps making emails disappear, they saw that the issue was resolved as the email stayed in their shared mailbox.

Step by step process to restore emails from ‘Deleted items’ folder:

1. On Outlook, select the ‘deleted items’ folder from the left hand side panel

After signing into your Outlook account using your credentials, go to your ‘Deleted items’ folder which can be located on the left hand side panel.

2. Right click on the email you want to restore and select ‘Restore’ from the dropdown list

If the emails from your shared mailbox that disappeared are in the deleted items folder, you can restore them by right clicking on them and selecting ‘Restore’ from the drop down list. 

If the emails are not in the deleted items folder, then follow the next steps to set up a retention policy for your shared mailbox. Please ensure that you have an admin view of your shared mailbox before you attempt to follow these steps. 

Step by step process to set a retention policy for a shared mailbox:

1. Go to Office.com and sign in using your credentials

For the purpose of this tutorial, I will be signing into an example account.

2. From the panel on the left hand side, click on the ‘Admin’ icon

From the list of icons on the left hand side of the home page, select ‘Admin’.

3. From the left hand side panel, under ‘Admin centers, click on ‘Exchange’ 

4. Front the panel on the left hand side, click on ‘Classic Exchange admin center’.

5. Underneath ‘compliance management’, select ‘retention policies’

On this page, there will be a sumber of different setting options, look for the ‘compliance management’ and then select ‘retention policies from underneath it.

6. Under the text highlighted in yellow, click on the plus sign
7. A window will appear. Add a name for the retention policy 
8. Underneath that box, create a retention tag by clicking on the plus button
9. Select a pre-made retention tag from the list and then click ‘OK’

10. Then, from the left hand side panel, click on ‘Recipients’ 

Now you need to apply the retention policy you created to your shared mailbox. To do this, click on ‘recipients’ from the left hand panel. 

11. From the panel at the top, select ‘Shared’

12. From the list of shared mailboxes, double click on the one you’d like to apply the retention policy to

For the purpose of this tutorial, I have selected the admin shared mailbox

13. In the new window, select ‘mailbox features’

When the new window opens, select ‘mailbox features’ from the left hand side.

14. Go to the retention policy drop down list and select the retention policy you made
15. At the bottom of the window, click on ‘Save’

Thank you for reading! If you have any comments or further questions, leave a comment and we’d be happy to help.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is sometimes referred to as two-factor authentication or 2FA. It is a security enhancement that allows you to give two pieces of evidence when logging in to an account. This means instead of just logging in using your username and password, another piece of evidence is required. One popular method of MFA is by sending a code to your phone via text message which you then type in to log in. 

Although MFA creates multiple layers of security which helps to increase the assurance that the person trying to gain access is actually who they claim to be, there have been issues concerning the MFA used for Outlook. Many users have reported that after they enabled MFA, they have been unable to access their Outlook account. In this blog post, I will be outlining how you can fix this issue with a step by step guide. 

Accessing Outlook after enabling MFA:

1. Close your Outlook
2. Open up Credential Manager
3. Select ‘Windows Credential’
4. Scroll down to ‘Generic Credentials’
5. Click on any entries that contain the words ‘Outlook’ or ‘MicrosoftOffice16’ in the name
6. Select ‘Remove’
7. Close Credential Manager and restart your Outlook

Ensure this is done for each entry that contains ‘Outlook’ or ‘MicrosoftOffice16’ in the name.

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Step by step process to access Outlook After enabling MFA:

1. Close your outlook

It is important that you close Outlook before doing these steps otherwise the changes you make will not be updated on Outlook.

2. Open up Credential Manager

In the windows start menu, search for ‘Credential Manager’ and click on the ‘Credential Manager’ control panel.

3. Select ‘Windows Credentials’

Clock on ‘Windows Credentials’ to see the programs and websites you have been logging in to. 

4. Scroll down to ‘Generic Credentials’

5. Click on any entries that contain the words ‘Outlook’ or ‘MicrosoftOffice16’ in the name

Here is an example of this. This entry contains the ‘MicrosoftOffice16’ in the name. Please note, you may have multiple entries that contain ‘Outlook’ or ‘MicrosoftOffice16’ in the name. You must remove all these entries.

6. Select ‘Remove’

Click on ‘Remove’ at the bottom on the information about the entry.

7. Close Credential Manager and restart your Outlook

You can now close Credential Manager and restart your Outlook. This will now enable you to access your Outlook again.

Common issues with MFA on your work Outlook account

It seems to be quite common when enabling MFA on an Outlook account to run into similar issues. One of the biggest issues is not having your mobile device with you in the office when Outlook asks you to verify your identity. The solution to this is to add an alternative method to sign in beforehand, however if you did not add an alternative verification, your organisation’s help desk can assist you. 

Similarly there are other issues you can run into when enabling MFA, such as:

• Your device was stolen
• You didn’t receive the verification code that was sent to your mobile device
• You have a new phone number
• You have a new device
• You’re having issues with signing in while traveling 
• You can’t turn MFA off

If you are experiencing any of these issues, please visit the Microsoft page on ‘Two-step verification help’ to see how you can resolve these issues with your MFA on outlook. 

Thank you for reading! We hope this helped to solve your issues with MFA on Outlook. If you have any further questions feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to help, or read more of out blog posts about Outlook and MFA:

• How to disable MFA – Microsoft 365

Since MFA requires third party access requirements, many users often want to ignore MFA. This blog post demonstrated how to disable MFA so that they dont keep getting the unwanted MFA prompts.

• Why is Office 365 not prompting for MFA?

This blog post highlights how to resolve the issue when Office 365 is not asking for MFA. This step by step tutorial breaks down the process for an easy to follow guide.

• How to fix Outlook continually asking for credentials?

Due to errors, there may be times when Outlooks personal information manager doesn’t work as well as expected and keeps asking for a password. This blog posts looks at the possible reasons behind why Outlook keeps asking for your password and ways to fix this issue.

• How to add a delegate to your inbox in Outlook

Adding a delegate can be a difficult and confusing process, this blog posts breaks it down into a step by step guide to ensure you can follow this tutorial and successfully add a delegate to your inbox

Add-ins are a very simple but incredibly useful feature that help to increase efficiency and productivity. They run inside other programs, in this case, Outlook, as a way to enhance and increase its functionality. These add-ins are sometimes also referred to as extensions or plug-ins. Some of the add-ins that are available in Outlook are pre-installed by default but not all of them are activated. These unactivated add-ins will be shown as being disabled. In order to activate these add-ins, users need to manually activate them by adjusting their settings. This blog post will highlight how you can enable add-ins in Outlook when they have been disabled. 

Enabling add-ins in Outlook: 

1. Open Microsoft Outlook 
2. Select ‘File’
3. Click on ‘Options’
4. From the left hand side panel, select ‘Add-ins’
5. From the drop down list for ‘Manage’, select ‘COMM Add-ins’
6. Click on ‘Go’
7. Select the boxes for the add-ins you want to turn on.
8. If the add-in you want to turn on is not showing up in the list, then select ‘Add’
9. Browse your computer to find the file you want, then click on it to add
10. Select ok when you’ve done

To disable an add-in follow these steps again, but rather than selecting a box and ticking it, deselect it so there is no longer a tick in the box. This will remove the deselected files as an add-in from Outlook. 

Third party add-ins for Outlook:

In addition to activating the pre-installed add-ins in Outlook, users can also download a number of third party files and applications and select them as add-ins for Outlook. There are a wide range of add-ins that can be installed to help you stay on top of all your tasks. Below is a list of some popular add-ins that users have found to help them with productivity, collaboration and communication, and the majority of them are completely free to use. 

1) Duplicate Email Remover

This Add-in’s function is stated in its name. It searches for any duplicate emails and removes them. It has a powerful search tool that can filter through all your email folders in order to find any duplicate emails that might be taking up too much storage and affecting the organisation of your folders, and deletes them. Another useful feature of this tool is that it can also be used to find and move certain messages to any folder of your choice. The settings of this add-in are incredibly flexible. 

2) Grammarly

Grammarly is a popular and effective way to ensure that your emails (or any other written documents) are written to a high standard without any grammar, spelling or stylistic errors. This add-in stays in Outlook and proofreads your emails while reminding you of professional email etiquette. Grammarly also spots any common mistakes you tend to make and can even help you to enhance your writing skills. 

3) PayPal

One of the most popular ways to pay friends or even work colleagues is through PayPal. The PayPal add-in on Outlook can help you to easily send money to an email contact using their email address that Outlook will automatically fill in for you. After making the transfer, all the relevant information about your transaction will appear in your inbox. The PayPal add-in can be used for both Outlook Web and Outlook desktop versions.

4) FindTime

This is a great tool for online collaboration with colleagues as it helps you to set up your online meetings. FindTime allows you to easily find a slot in a busy schedule when all team members are available to meet. This add-in can schedule a meeting between multiple people without them having to send emails back and forth to discuss a time that suits all of the meeting attendees. It can suggest a few times that are available for everyone and find the one that suits everyone the best. Another advantage of this add-in, is that not all the team members are required to install it as it works with email.

5) Translator for Outlook

For companies and organisations that work internationally, this is a very beneficial tool. This add-in is the official translations feature for Outlook, made by Microsoft that can instantly translate emails into english (or any other language). According to Microsoft, all the data transmissions are secured via a SSL and are never sampled, shared or stored. 

Step by step guide to Enabling add-ins in Outlook: 

1. Open Microsoft Outlook 

Sign into Outlook using your credentials if you haven’t already. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will be using an example Outlook account.

2. Select ‘File’

From the top corner of the screen, select ‘File’

3. Click on ‘Options’

When the window for Account Information appears, Selection ‘Options’ front eh bottom left corner of the window.

4. From the left hand side panel, select ‘Add-ins’

Then, when the Outlook Options window appears, select ‘Add-ins’

5. From the drop down list for ‘Manage’, select ‘COMM Add-ins’ and click ‘Go’

At the bottom of the window where it says ‘Manage’, ensure that ‘COMM Add-ins’ is selected from the drop down list, then click on ‘Go’

6. Select the boxes for the add-ins you want to turn on.

Click on the box and a tick will appear to select the add-ins you want to turn on, add a tick for each one that you would like to turn on and activate. 

7. If the add-in you want to turn on is not showing up in the list, then select ‘Add’

This will open up a window that will let you select other add-ins to activate.

8. Browse your computer to find the file you want, then click on it to add.

Double click on the add-ins to select and activate them.

9. Select ok when you’ve done

Now that you have activated your add-ins, they will appear on the top panel of your Outlook page and are ready to be used.

Thank you for reading, if you have any questions or comments about Outlook add-ins, feel free to leave a comment below.

There have been a number of Outlook users who have been experiencing issues when it comes to accessing emails in their inbox that are older than 14 days old. This can be quite a big issue if you need to access an important email that was sent over two weeks ago. In this blog post, I will highlight some of the steps you can take to try and solve this issue. There may be a number of different reasons why your inbox is only displaying emails newer than 14 days. It could be to do with the sync glider settings, you may have a filter applied to your inbox, or it may be that you need to reset the view in your inbox. This blog post will cover all three of these possibilities. 

Method 1: How to Fix Outlook Displaying Emails Newer Than 14 Days

1. In Outlook, click “File.”
2. Click on “Account Settings.”
3. Select “Account Name & Sync Settings” from the dropdown.
4. If the slider is set to “2 weeks,” drag it to a longer duration.
5. Click “Next.”
6. Finally, click on “Done.”

Method 2: How to Fix Outlook Displaying Emails Newer Than 14 Days

1. Go to your inbox 
2. Click on “View.”
3. Then, select “Current View.”
4. Go to “Reset View.”

Method 3: How to Fix Outlook Displaying Emails Newer Than 14 Days

1. Go to your inbox 
2. Click on “View.”
3. Then, select “Current View.”
4. Go to “View Settings.”
5. Ensure that the filters are turned off
6. Then, click “OK.”

It is important to note that you will need to restart Outlook for these changes to take effect.

We’ve also created a YouTube video that walks through the steps given here if you’d like a more visual alternative to a blog post. Please watch it here on our YouTube channel:

Why is Outlook only displaying emails newer than 14 days?

Not displaying emails older than 14 days may seem like quite an unnecessary feature to have on Outlook for many users who experience this problem. However, this can be a very effective tool for certain types of users depending on their work and how they keep their emails organised.

While the majority of Outlook users require constant access to previous emails that are older than 14 days old, some users do not. By having this feature on Outlook, it allows you to decide for how long emails are stored in your inbox, Outlook allows the user to be in control of what is displayed in their inbox depending on their own individual needs.

It is also important to note that the email is not deleted after 14 days of being in a user’s inbox, it is archived and is still accessible if needed. If you have been experiencing this issue and would like to prevent your inbox from only displaying emails that are newer than 14 days, follow all the step by step guide highlighted below.

Method 1: Adjust the sync slider to fix Outlook only displaying emails newer than 14 days (step-by-step)

1. Sign into Outlook desktop app using your credentials

For the purpose of this tutorial, I will be signing in using an example Outlook account.

2. Click on ‘File’

From the left hand side of the panel at the top of the page, click on ‘File’

3. Click on ‘Account Settings’

When a new window with your account information appears, select ‘Account Settings’ from the button on the left hand side. 

4. From the drop down list, select ‘Account Name & Sync Settings’

A drop down list will appear from the ‘Account Settings’ button. From the list, click on ‘Account Name & Sync Settings’

5. If the slider is set at ‘2 weeks’, then drag it to however long of a duration you would like.

A small window will appear with a slider under the section called ‘Download email for the past:’. If the slider is set at ‘2 weeks’, this is the reason why Outlook has only been displaying emails newer than 14 days. Adjust the slider until it displays the duration of your preference. 

6. Click ‘Next’

Once you have adjusted the slider, click on ‘Next’ at the bottom of the window.

7. When the message appears, click on ‘Done’

When you receive a message saying that your account was successfully updated, you may click ‘Done’. 

If the slider was not set at ‘2 weeks’ then please floor the next step to resolve this issue.

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Method 2: Reset the view to fix Outlook only displaying emails newer than 14 days (step-by-step)

1. Go to your inbox 

For this tutorial, I am still logged into the same example account as before. As you can see from the screenshot above, I have ensured I am inside the inbox folder.

2. Click on ‘View’

From the panel at the top, select ‘View’ from the left hand side. 

3. Then, select ‘Current View’

Underneath the previous panel, another panel will appear. From here, select ‘Current View’

4. Go to ‘Reset View’

When the drop down list appears from ‘Current View’, select the option for ‘Reset View’. This will reset all current view settings to the default settings for inbox and should help to resolve the issue of Outlook not displaying emails that are older than 14 days old. 

After carrying out these steps the issue persists, follow the steps outlined below to check that no filters have been turned on. 

Method 3: Check for filters to fix Outlook only displaying emails newer than 14 days (step-by-step)

1. Go to your inbox 

For this tutorial, I am still logged into the same example account as before. As you can see from the screenshot above, I have ensured I am inside the inbox folder.

2. Click on ‘View’

From the panel at the top, select ‘View’ from the left hand side. 

3. Then, select ‘Current View’

Underneath the previous panel, another panel will appear. From here, select ‘Current View’

4. Go to ‘View Settings’

When the drop down list appears from ‘Current View’, select the option for ‘View Settings’

5. Ensure that the filters are turned off

A small window will then appear with advanced view settings. From here ensure that the option for ‘Filter’ is turned off.

6. Then, click ‘OK’

Finally, from the bottom of the window, select ‘OK’. Once you have followed all the steps for the three possible reasons why Outlook isn’t displaying emails that are older than 14 days, then the issue should be resolved.

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Thank you for reading! If you have any further questions about this blog post or any other general questions, feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to get back to you.