Search for Old E-mail Messages in Outlook

Owned by gregh (Unlicensed)
Sept 27, 2021
2 min read

Typically Outlook only shows the last 12 months of e-mail messages in a particular folder. Usually you can see more by searching, although sometimes you will see “Search is limited to the last 12 months because the Server is unavailable”. 

You can search using the Search box at the top of Outlook. You can add fields to the Search by selecting + Add More Options. I suggest adding the Read field so you can search for unread messages (Read = No). You can also search by date to see things older than 12 months (when the server is available).

You can also set your account default to keep more than 12 months of messages available:

  1. In Outlook, click File > Account Settings > Account Settings

  2. Select your account and click the Change button

  3. Move the slider to the right to increase the default and retrieve older messages (I don’t recommend selecting All)

  4. Click Next then Done and restart Outlook

  5. After you restart Outlook, it could take some time to retrieve all the older messages