How to Remove Ghost Emails from MS Outlook?

How to Delete Ghost Emails in Outlook Desktop Client ? MS Outlook is a widely used professional email client. When you send emails using Outlook, you may find that Outlook is trying to send some emails but they are not available in Outbox. These emails are too large and often crash. Hence, even after deletion, traces remain which can affect the normal functioning of Outlook.

What is Ghost Email?

Emails that are deleted from the profile but actually exist on the email server are ghost emails. Such messages appear due to a sudden power outage or a malware problem. These emails damage PST files and slow down Outlook function.

How to Delete Ghost Emails from Outlook?

Before starting the repair methods, the most important thing is to create a backup of all PST files. Outlook stores all emails, calendar, contacts and other important documents in a PST file. You need to back up all files and save them on an external drive. Even if the data is lost, the backup information can save the day.

Related User Queries

How do i get rid of ghost emails in outlook?

How to clear phantom emails in outlook?

Why do i have ghost emails?

How do i delete phantom emails in outlook?

Method 1 Use Inbox Repair Tool to Remove Ghost Emails from Outlook

1. Firstly, Close Outlook.
2. Go to This PC and select Local Drive (C:).
3. Navigate to:
   Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
4. Double click on Scanpst and enter the name of the corrupted PST file. You can select the Browse option if the file is not found. Select Open after locating the file.
5. Click Start to start the scan.
6. Click on the Repair option to repair the corrupted file.

Method 2 Use Registry Editor to Remove Ghost Emails from Outlook

1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing 'Windows Key + R'.
2. Type Regedit and press OK.
3. For Outlook 2013, enter the profile key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\
4. Each Ghost PST file has a registry key.
5. While original PST files have two registry keys. Locate the file and remove it. If the Ghost PST file has a unique name, you can find and remove it. The process becomes difficult when there is no unique name and there are multiple folders. In this case, you need to identify all found keys with PST and then delete Ghost PST file.

The previous two methods rely solely on strokes and attempts. None of them guarantee that the clear phantom emails will be completely deleted from Outlook. The first method is preferable only when the PST file is small. The registry editor method is only recommended if you are familiar with Outlook techniques as you may delete the wrong key and corresponding wrong PST file.

To avoid such situations, it is best to use a professional tool that is safe and guarantees success. One such excellent third party software is SysTools Outlook PST Repair. This tool repairs and restores all corrupt, broken and inaccessible Outlook PST files. View mailbox data and save files in PST, EML, Office 365 and other convenient formats. You can also use this tool to fix the error “you cannot delete this Outlook data file”. It not only recovers all data but also splits large PST files into smaller files. After the reset, you can choose to save Outlook emails to local or external hard drive as PDF or as per your need. It can also be used with PST files of all Outlook versions.

Summary

Managing ghost emails is no easy task. Finding such emails is quite difficult and becomes even more frustrating when these emails are not visible. It not only hampers the functioning of Microsoft Outlook but also damages existing PST files. Trying a professional tool, namely SysTools Outlook Recovery, works wonders. It can recover severely damaged and password protected PST files in no time.