How to Recover Deleted Meeting/ Calendar Events in Outlook?

Outline: Are you facing difficulty to recover deleted meeting or other calendar items in Outlook? Then, this write-up is worth considering.

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most efficient personal information managers (email client) to manage meetings and other calendar events such as appointments, recurring events, reminders, tasks, birthdays and anniversaries, holidays, shared calendars, and more. Also, it is part of the Microsoft Office suite of applications.

There can be instances where due to human error, accidental, intentional, or technological glitches, important meeting or calendar event may get deleted or cancelled from Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 365. This can confuse, missed appointments or programs, and hamper workplace efficiency. Fortunately, in this piece of information, we will cover several methods to retrieve the lost Outlook meetings and other calendar items.

Top Reasons For Calendar Items Lost in Outlook 2021

Lost calendar items in the Outlook 2016 may be overwhelming; nevertheless, knowing the causes of the problem assists in fixing the issue. Here are some top reasons why calendar items might be lost

1. Synchronization Issues

• Exchange Server Sync Problems: Is there a problem syncing Outlook to the Exchange Server, calendar items may not appear or may not be updated as they should.
• Mobile Device Sync: Deleted and missing events can be also a result of problems between ActiveSync and mobile devices: Markus Reis.

2. Accidental Deletion

• User Error: Calendar items can be deleted either by the user intentionally or it can be deleted by some one who has access to the calendar.
• Delegate Access: It becomes possible for persons with delegate access to delete or modify calendar items, and the owners become invisable.

3. Corrupted Data Files

• OST/PST Corruption: The OST/PST file corruption may cause missing calendar items, and these are the primary corruption aspects of the Outlook Data File. This can be caused by improper shut down either on the sender or receiver end, or through large files or combinations of the two.
• Data File Errors: The other thing that can lead to failure to appear of an item or appearing in wrong format is errors in the data file.

4. View Settings and Filters

• Custom Views: This is especially the case when using the calendar custom view or filter that makes items appear to be missing, though they are not.
  Date Range Filters: Influenced by where the user clicks, the options include All, Today, This Week, This Month, This Year and None, where if a date range is filtered, only items within this date range will be shown.

#1. Restore Deleted Calendar Events from Deleted Items Folder

In this section, you will explore the quick solution to recover deleted meeting in Outlook including all other calendar items. Further, we will be utilizing the “Deleted Items” folder as a safety net for overlooked calendar items. Here are the steps.

Note: Remember meeting or any other calendar events can only be reinstated within 30 days of the deletion period. After the due duration, everything in the deleted records folder will be permanently lost.

• Launch the Outlook email client on your system.

• Open the “Deleted Items” folder in Outlook.

• Find the deleted meeting calendar item.

• Right-click on the same and select “Move” → “Other Folder.”
• Choose the folder to move it.
• Tap on “OK” to restore the meeting.

#2. Recover Deleted Meeting in Outlook from Recoverable Items Folder

This particular approach is handy if you’ve accidentally emptied your “Deleted Items” folder or if the time is more than the retention period of Outlook since deletion. Now, with a few clicks, you can easily restore permanently lost meetings or calendar items.

Note: Every Exchange server has a specific retention period. E.g. – 14 days or more. Please check before proceeding. This duration can be customized by Exchange administrator.

• Start the “Microsoft Outlook” application. Navigate to the “Folder” tab.
• Click on “Recover Deleted Items” from the ribbon. This option is only visible if your Exchange server has the “Dumpster” enabled.
• In the “Recover Deleted Items” window that appears, locate the deleted meeting/ calendar event you want to recover.
• Select the calendar meeting by clicking on it.
• Click on the “Recover Selected Items” button (it looks like an envelope with an arrow pointing left).
• Confirm the recovery by clicking “OK” in the dialog box that appears.
• The recovered calendar event should now be restored to your Outlook.

#3. Recover Deleted Meeting/ Calendar Events in Outlook from a Backup (Outlook Data File)

If you do regular backups of your Outlook data. Then, this part is for you. Here, we will explore the steps of importing your Outlook data file (.pst or .ost) containing the deleted calendar meeting. Whether you mistakenly deleted the meeting or it got corrupted, this approach will retrieve the missing meeting calendar item effortlessly.

• Close Outlook if it’s running.
• Navigate to the location where you have a backup of your Outlook data file (typically a .pst or .ost file).
• Open and run the MS Outlook utility. After that, navigate to “File” → “Open & Export” → “Import/Export.”
• Next, In the Import and Export Wizard, go for the “Import from another program or file” >> “Next.”
• Pick the desired “Outlook Data File (.pst)“. Then, press on the “Next” tab.
• Browse to the location of your backup Outlook data file and select it, then click “Next.”
• Choose the folder you want to import the data into and click “Next.”
• Review the import settings and click “Finish.”
• After the import process completes, the deleted meeting calendar item should be recovered in the selected folder.

#4: Recover Deleted Meeting using the Sync Issues Folder Check

If you have linked your Outlook account with Exchange or Microsoft 365, there is a chance of restoring the deleted meeting calendar items that are stored in the Sync Issues folder. The property of this folder is that it holds Outlook items such as appointments, holidays, meetings, etc. that are not able to sync or update properly.

• Launch the Outlook software and navigate to the Calendar view.
• In the Navigation Pane, scroll down and look for the “Sync Issues” folder.
• If the folder exists, expand it and look for any subfolders related to your calendar.
• Open the relevant subfolder and check if your deleted calendar meeting items are present.
• If found, right-click on the item(s) and select “Move” or “Copy.”
• In the “Move Items” dialog box, select the desired calendar folder from the list.
• Click “Move” or “Copy” to recover the deleted item(s) to the selected calendar folder.

Challenges in the Restore Deleted/ Cancelled Meeting & other Calendar Events in Outlook

No doubt the manual solutions are easy to find and are free. However, it is associated with several limitations that can inhibit the process of recover deleted meeting/ calendar items in Outlook. Some of them are here.

Solution 1 Problem –

• Only works if the deleted meeting/ calendar items are still present in the Deleted Items folder.
• If you emptied the Deleted Items folder or directly deleted the event from the respective section without going through the Deleted Items folder, this method will not work.

Method 2 Issue–

• Requires the Exchange server to have the “Dumpster” feature enabled, which may not be the case for all organizations or setups.
• Typically, the system stores recoverable calendar items for a limited period (e.g., 14 days, 30 days), after which it permanently deletes them.
• May not work for non-Exchange accounts or if the account is not configured correctly.

Solution 3 problem to Recover Deleted calendar events in Outlook –

• If you did not perform regular backups or the backup file does not contain the deleted calendar event, this method will not work.
• Importing data from a backup file may overwrite or duplicate existing data in Outlook, potentially causing data loss or conflicts.
• The backup file may be corrupted or inaccessible, preventing the recovery process.

Shortcomings in Method 4:

• Only works if Outlook is linked to Exchange/Microsoft 365, not local data files.
• Deleted meeting calendar items found in the Sync Issues folder only if the sync issue prevented server deletion.
• The Sync Issues folder is temporary, so the account settings may eventually delete items.