How to Find a Missing Folder in Outlook?

Yatendra Singh

Updated On - March 14, 2024

Outlook 2016 and 2019 are both intuitive and easy to use. So, learning about the basic stuff and understanding where which option is placed where is not that difficult, even for an average user.

But sometimes due to silly mistakes or unacknowledged actions, users misplace folders in Outlook and later find it quite difficult to track the folder path/location; to figure out how it happened can be tricky as there could be many reasons standing behind.

To help you get out of such situation, we’ve come with our compilation on how to find the missing folder in Outlook 2016 & 2019. Giving two different approaches to get back what’s lost, this guide will serve you with missing folder recovery.

Methods to Find Missing Folder in Microsoft Outlook 2016 and 2019

The folder you’re looking may be deleted already somehow, or it could be lying somewhere, and you’re not aware of that. Considering all such scenes, go through the workarounds below to find the missing Outlook 2016 & 2019 folder(s).

Audit Folder Size and List

To find the missing folder, you can generate a list of all folders available inside the Outlook mailbox and then find it.

To analyze folder size and list, go through the steps given below:

1. Launch Outlook for Desktop.
2. Right-click on the mailbox account and select Data File Properties.
3. Click on the Folder Size button.
4. Folder Size window would appear on-screen; inside, you’ll notice the path and space consumed by each folder available in the Outlook mailbox. From here, you can find the current location of the missing folder.

Run Advanced Folder Search

In Outlook 2016 and 2019, various options are available, and from many of those options, Advanced Folder Search is one that can be used for finding missing folders. It not only enables the user to look out for lost or missing Outlook folders but also for Outlook mailbox items.

Follow the given steps:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook.
2. Move on to the Search tab – in the menu bar.
3. Click on Search Tools, and now select Advanced Find option.
4. Once the Advanced Find window is up on the screen.

Input the lost or missing folder name and click on the Browse button to start the search. Here, you can find the lost or missing folder path/location.

Check-in Trash Box and Restore

Trash box contains all the files, attachments, messages, and folders that are deleted.

Check inside the Trash Box (folder), if your luck turns out good you may find the missing Outlook folder there, as you might’ve deleted the folder mistakenly or unknowingly.

To open the Trash Box:

1. Open Outlook 2016.
2. Click on the Bin folder in the left side of the screen.
3. Once it’s open, all deleted/removed items including folders will be available to restore.

Execute VBA Macro Code

Also, you can try a method which allows the user to define a custom search program in Outlook 2016 & 2019. To search for a missing folder, you would have to run a VBA macro code – Visual Basic for Applications code.

Go through the steps below to create and run a custom search application in Microsoft Outlook:

First Enable Developer Tab

1. Launch Outlook.
2. Now, move to the Files tab, and click on Options.
3. Select Customize Ribbon,
4. Customize the Ribbon window will now appear. Checkmark Developer Option and click Next.

Developer Tab will now be available in the menu bar, let’s proceed with the next step.

Execute VBA Code

1. Click on Developer Tab in the menu bar.
2. Click on the Visual Basic option.
3. VBA window will come up on-screen. Click on the + icon to expand Microsoft Outlook Objects.
4. Double-click on ThisOutlookSession.
5. Inside ThisOutlook Session Project1 window, enter the code given below:



6. In the menu bar, click Run > Run Sub/UserForm.
7. The custom folder search program window will show up on-screen.

In the search bar, type the name of the missing folder, say Word Mails > click Ok.

8. Once the search is complete, missing folder location/path will be available.

Using the methods mentioned above, you’ll be able to find out the folder or folders in Outlook that went missing.

But the occurrence of uncertain situations in Outlook is unpredictable, and these uncertain circumstances can lead to Outlook PST data file corruption or damage, which ultimately may result in data loss.

You may learn about tips to avoid Outlook PST file corruption. But to deal with such scenes, you would need a dedicated tool to fix similar issues and safeguard crucial mailbox data. Recoveryfix Outlook PST repair is advanced software that helps you with data recovery and access.

With multiple options for file saving after recovery, live data preview, and split PST file option, and more, Outlook PST Repair tool allows you to do more within a simple and intuitive interface.

Wrap Up

In cases when the user keeps tons of data inside the mailbox, data management becomes quite hard. Thus, it’s likely that you may not remember where is what? So, we have discussed the ways to find a missing folder in Outlook. Also, help you with PST issues, we have introduced Recoveryfix Outlook PST repair. It assists you with help queries such as how to recover permanently deleted PST emails, methods to backup Outlook PST file, ways to fix PST file damage, and more.