When you delete an email in webmail, it usually doesn't disappear right away. Most webmail accounts move deleted messages to a Trash (or Deleted Items) folder first, where they stay for a limited time before being removed for good. Here's how to get a deleted message back, and what your options are if it's already gone from Trash.
Check the Trash or Deleted Items folder first
Your hosting account's webmail runs one of two applications: Roundcube or Horde. Both keep deleted messages in a dedicated folder rather than erasing them immediately.
In Roundcube
- Log in to your webmail and open the folder list on the left.
- Click Trash.
- Find the message you want back. Right-click it (or use the toolbar) and select Move to, then choose Inbox or the folder you want it restored to.
In Horde
- Log in to your webmail and select Trash from the folder list.
- Open the message, then use the Move option in the message toolbar to send it back to Inbox.
Not sure which webmail application your account uses? Just log in through your webmail address. Whichever screen appears is the one your account runs, and both work the same basic way for this.
If the message isn't in Trash anymore
Most webmail accounts are set to automatically empty Trash after a set number of days, often around 30. If the email was deleted longer ago than that, it may already have been purged from the mail server for good.
- Check whether the message was filed under a different folder instead of Trash. A mail filter you've set up may have sorted it elsewhere.
- Search across all folders using the webmail search bar, rather than only checking the folder you expect it to be in.
- If you read your email through a desktop or phone app set up as POP3 rather than IMAP, the message may only ever have been downloaded to that one device and never stored on the server at all. Check that device's own Trash or Deleted Items folder too.
If it's genuinely gone
Once a message is purged from Trash, it's usually not recoverable from within webmail itself. A backup taken before the email was deleted is the next place to check, since account backups can include mailbox data from an earlier point in time.
See How to Restore a Website Backup for how backup restores work, or contact ZIPROF support to check what backup points are available for your account before assuming the email is unrecoverable.
To avoid losing important messages this way in future, keep an eye on your Trash retention setting and only empty it manually once you're sure you no longer need anything in it.