How to Recover Mail From the Outlook Junk Mail Folder

This article explains how to recover emails from Microsoft Outlook's Junk Email folder. Instructions apply to Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007; Outlook for Microsoft 365, and Outlook Online.

Recover Mail From the Junk Mail Folder in Outlook

Microsoft Outlook comes with a junk mail filter that files junk emails in its own folder. However, good messages can be mistakenly marked as spam. To move an email from your junk folder to the inbox and, optionally, secure future messages from the same sender from being treated as junk in Outlook:

1. Open the Junk Email folder in Outlook.

2. Open or highlight the email message you want to recover.

3. If the email is open in the Reading Pane or highlighted in the folder list, go to the Home tab. If the message is open in a separate window, go to the Message tab.

4. In the Delete group, select Junk.

5. Select Not Junk. Or press Ctrl+Alt+J.

6. To add the sender to your safe senders’ list so that messages from their addresses are never treated as spam, select the Always trust e-mail from the checkbox.

   Set Outlook to allow only mail from such senders into the inbox, and Outlook automatically puts people you mail on the safe senders list.

7. Click OK.

Outlook automatically moves the message to your Inbox or to the message's previous folder, where you can read and work on it.

Recover a Message From the Junk E-Mail Folder in Outlook 2007

To mark a message as not spam in the Outlook Junk E-mail folder:

1. Go to the Junk E-mail folder.

2. Highlight the message you want to recover.

3. Click Not Junk. Or press Ctrl+Alt+J or select Actions > Junk E-mail > Mark as Not Junk.

4. If you want to add the sender of the email to your list of trusted senders, select Always trust e-mail from.

5. Click OK.