Deleted Email – A myth?

We’ve all done it; composed an email, hit send, then regretted it.

The heart-rate goes up and we become people of action, trying in vain to recall it. Invariably it’s too late and we just have to accept the consequences.

The problem is that if we want to delete an email, making sure both the deleted items and the recycle bin is emptied will not cover our tracks. Even if it’s been purged from the Exchange server dumpster, that’s not the end of the story.

The email will still exist in Exchange backups, 3rd-party archives, the recipient’s inbox, perhaps a PST file or two…and even some places you didn’t think to look.

For example, a customer recently was surprised to learn about the hidden folder created by Blackberry on their Exchange server that bypasses the dumpster process. There’s other places we know to look in.

The chance of deleting an email (either inadvertently or intentionally) and never being able to recover it is very slim. If it’s the email confirming your pay rise or extra day’s holiday, the work involved to retrieve it may not actually be justifiable on the part of the IT department, but it is possible.

Being able to retrieve email that was thought lost can be costly exercise but with the right software and plan it can be relatively pain-free.

So there is no need to panic anymore when you can’t find an email you need, but on a similar note be aware that once an email is sent, it quite often is around for good!