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How long do deleted emails stay on the server? can they be retrieved at a later time?
How long do deleted emails stay on the server? can they be retrieved at a later time?
Deleted emails are normally erased on the server. However, anything you erase on a computer can still be retrieved somehow unless you do a hard drive scrubbing (This is done with a lot of software that will normally overwrite deleted parts of the hard drive with 0's)
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This depends highly on the type of e-mail account you have and the way you are accessing your mail.
For example: A generic setup of a POP3 or IMAP e-mail account will pull mail from the server permanently into a mail client that you run on your workstation such as Microsoft Outlook. In this instance, the mail is removed from the server as soon as your mail client connects to retrieve mail. This isn't always how all mail clients are configured however. Sometimes clients will be configured to only pull a copy of the mail, leaving the original intact on the server. These clients can also be configured to only remove messages permanently from the server when they are deleted permanently from your mail client.
If you are connecting to an Enterprise mail system such as Microsoft Exchange there is a much greater likelihood that your messages can be retained long after you delete them from your Mail Client. There are numerous Archive solutions available that could drastically change the answer.
Are you using a mail client such as Outlook today or do you access your mail through a web interface?
For example: A generic setup of a POP3 or IMAP e-mail account will pull mail from the server permanently into a mail client that you run on your workstation such as Microsoft Outlook. In this instance, the mail is removed from the server as soon as your mail client connects to retrieve mail. This isn't always how all mail clients are configured however. Sometimes clients will be configured to only pull a copy of the mail, leaving the original intact on the server. These clients can also be configured to only remove messages permanently from the server when they are deleted permanently from your mail client.
If you are connecting to an Enterprise mail system such as Microsoft Exchange there is a much greater likelihood that your messages can be retained long after you delete them from your Mail Client. There are numerous Archive solutions available that could drastically change the answer.
Are you using a mail client such as Outlook today or do you access your mail through a web interface?
This question has been classified as abandoned and is being closed as part of the Cleanup Program. See my comment at the end of the question for more details.
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