missing folders and opened emails since new outlook update.

Hi Tresa Winchester,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

I understand how frustrating it is to open Outlook after an update and suddenly see folders/email history missing—especially if new mail also stopped arriving.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas only.

Since the common checks didn’t help, the key incident here is that in new Outlook for Windows you may not be able to edit SMTP details once the account is in a “reverted SMTP” state. The most reliable fix is to remove the Hotmail account from the new Outlook app and add it back again:

• In new Outlook, open View settings (or File > Account info) > Accounts > Your accounts.
• Next to your Hotmail account, select Manage > Remove.
• Restart new Outlook, then go back to Accounts and select Add account to sign in again.

After re-adding, please also check recovery in case items were moved/removed:

• Open Deleted Items and select Recover items deleted from this folder to restore any recoverable messages.

If your messages/folders are still missing after re-adding the account and nothing appears in the recovery area, the mailbox may need an account-level review by Microsoft Support:

Go to Contact Us: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus

• Click Show expanded list of products
• Select Outlook > Get Home support
• Type Outlook live chat in the search box, then select Get Help > Contact Support
• If you can’t sign in to the affected account, sign in with a different Microsoft account to access support options
• Under Products & Services, select Other Products > Outlook, then choose Chat with a support agent via web browser

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

This behavior matches known issues where Outlook.com/Hotmail folders appear to disappear or revert, and where system folders become hidden.

1. Use search to locate missing mail

• In Outlook.com / New Outlook, use the Search box and search for a known sender, subject, or keyword from one of the “missing” messages.
• Even if folders are not visible, items can still be found and opened via search.

2. Check for hidden or changed folders

• For Outlook.com/Hotmail, there is a known issue where folders created or renamed can revert to an old name or disappear when signing in again.
• The workaround is to rely on search to access items while using the updated Outlook.com / New Outlook experience, where this folder issue is fixed.

3. Check filters, rules, and Archive

• In Outlook.com, select Filter above the message list and choose All to ensure no filter is hiding messages.
• Check Rules (Inbox/Sweep rules) to confirm messages are not being moved automatically to other folders.
• Check the Archive folder and move any messages back to Inbox if needed.

4. If folders named “Files”, “Files1”, etc. were used

• In some Exchange Online/Outlook configurations, system folders named Files, Files1, etc. were previously visible and could be used to store mail.
• A service update now hides these system folders as intended, so any items stored there no longer appear in Outlook or Outlook on the web.
• To recover items from these hidden system folders, Microsoft Support can assist using the MFCMAPI tool to move messages into normal user folders.

5. Contact Outlook.com / Microsoft support

• If messages still cannot be found via search or in Archive, and normal mail is no longer arriving, use Outlook.com in a browser, select Help on the menu bar, and follow Still need help? to contact support.
• If sign-in is a problem, use the dedicated sign-in help link from the Outlook.com support page.

References:

• Outlook.com folders disappear or go back to a previous name
• Email is missing from your Outlook.com inbox
• Exchange Online hides previously displayed Files and folders