Chances are it varies from service to service, and in fact might even change over time they’re not obligated to tell us. It’s hidden behind the service provider’s interface. When it comes to online services, we really don’t know how trash is handled.

The real question is, what happens when deleted emails are actually deleted from the trash? Emptying trash online: we just don’t know This gives you a month to change your mind and recover anything you didn’t mean to delete.ĭesktop email programs often have a setting controlling what happens to trash, so you can decide whether it’s left alone until you explicitly empty it, or emptied automatically when you exit the program. Most online services automatically delete email from trash after some amount of time - usually 30 days.

What happens next depends on the program or service. Instead, the message is moved to a special folder, typically called “trash” or “deleted items”. In most email programs and web interfaces, deleting a message doesn’t actually delete it. When deleted emails aren’t really deleted And, of course, the person at the other end of the message - sender or recipient - could also have a copy. Depending on the situation, backups (either your own or those of the service you use) might be a way to recover. In a desktop mail program, there are several ways a permanently deleted email might still be recoverable. With an online service, there’s no way to know what “permanent” means. Both can use recycle or trash bins, and both permanently delete when the bin is emptied. Deleting email is similar to deleting a file on disk.

How to get back deleted emails on aol