Software & Apps > MS Office How to Quickly Clean an Inbox Folder in Outlook.com Swiftly deal with all messages in a folder By Heinz Tschabitscher Heinz Tschabitscher Writer University of Vienna A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 7, 2021 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines MS Office Outlook Word Excel Powerpoint Trending Videos Close this video player What to Know Right-click the folder and select Empty folder, then select Delete all to confirm. Messages move to the Deleted Items folder.To delete only some messages: Select the checkboxes next to the messages you want to delete, then select Move to > Deleted Items.To retrieve a deleted message: Find it in the Deleted Items folder, select Move to, and choose an inbox folder. This article explains how to empty an Outlook.com folder quickly and easily by deleting all contents or deleting emails selectively. Empty a Folder Completely In the Folders pane, right-click the folder and select Empty folder. In the confirmation message that appears, select Delete all. The messages are moved to the Deleted Items folder. When you delete items, they're not gone forever: They're moved to the Deleted Items folder so you can review them before permanently deleting them. Delete Only Some Messages If you want to delete only some of the messages in a folder, select those messages and move them to the Deleted Items folder. Here's how: Select the folder you want to clean. Its emails will display in the messages list. Tick the checkbox to the left of each message that you want to delete. If you want to delete most of the messages, select the check box to the left of the folder name at the top of the list to select every message in the folder. Then, clear the check box next to the messages you want to keep in the folder. Select Move To > Deleted Items. You'll find the deleted messages in the Deleted Items folder. If You Accidentally Delete an Email You Want to Keep Find the message in the Deleted Items folder, select Move to, and choose the folder where you want to store the messages. If Outlook.com is set to empty the Deleted Items folder when you close your session and you want to recover one of these messages, open the Deleted Items folder and choose Recover deleted items from this folder. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit