Outlook Not Displaying Emails Older Than 12 Months? Fix It Now

Many Outlook users notice that their Outlook Not Displaying emails are older than 12 months. If you are searching for past messages from more than 12 months ago and they’re missing, don’t panic, they usually aren’t deleted. This issue is often caused by Cached Exchange Mode and sync settings that limit how much mail is stored locally on your computer. In this complete guide, we’ll explain why Outlook Not Displaying Emails older than 12 months and how you can fix it so that all your emails no matter how old appear in your folders.

When Outlook is not displaying emails older than 12 months, it doesn’t mean your emails are lost. Instead, Outlook is likely only showing a portion of your mailbox to improve performance. By default, Outlook is set to download just the most recent 12 months of messages when using Cached Exchange Mode. Anything older stays on the mail server(Exchange, Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com) but doesn’t appear in your Outlook desktop app until you change your sync or archive settings.

Key Reasons Outlook Not Displaying Emails Older Than 12 Months

• Outlook only downloads the last 12 months of emails by default.
• A slider setting controls how much mail is saved locally, usually set to 12 months.
• Filter or rules may be hiding or moving your older emails.
• Outlook or your company may automatically move old emails into an archive folder.
• Big or damaged Outlook data files can stop older emails from showing up.
• Shared mailboxes often don’t download older messages unless you change settings.
• Outdated Outlook or poor connectivity can also be the reason for Outlook Not Displaying Emails older than 12 months.

How to Fix Outlook Not Displaying Emails Older Than 12 Months?

Method 1. Check Outlook on the Web

1. Open “Outlook” in your browser and press Sign in.
2. If old emails are there, they’re safe- the problem is your “desktop Outlook Settings”.

Method 2. Adjust the “Mail to Keep Offline” Slider to All Email

1. Open Outlook and navigate to the “file”.
   
2. Click on “Account Settings” and press on Account Settings in the drop down menu.
   
3. Select your “Account” and change Move Mail to Keep Offline to All.
   
4. Expect Outlook to “download older emails”(this can take a while).

Method 3. Enable or Re-enable Cached Exchange Mode Correctly

1. In Same Account Settings, toggle “Cached Exchange Mode off”.
2. Relaunch “Outlook” then turn it on and restart again.
   
3. This forces Outlook to “resync Outlook mailbox”.

Method 4. Reset Outlook View Settings & Remove Date Filters

1. Go to the folder that looks empty, then “Current View” and press on “View Settings”.
2. Click on “Reset Current View” and it removes hidden date filters that might be hiding old mail.

Method 5. Check Archive Folder

1. Look in the “Archive(or any PST archive) older messages” are often auto-archived there.
2. If you find them, note the “Archive location” so you keep it handy.
   

Method 6. Check and Modify Retention Policies in Microsoft / Exchange Admin

1. Look in the “Archive older messages” or Ask IT Admin to change Retention policies.

Method 7. Repair or Compact PST/OST Files

1. Close Outlook and open path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\ScanPST.exe.
2. Open it and browse “Outlook files”.
   
3. Now, click on “Start” to get repair Outlook files.
   
4. Open “Outlook” and navigate to the file.
   
5. Click on “Account Settings” and select Account Settings in the dropdown list.
   
6. Tap on “Repair”.
   
7. Fixing “Corrupted Data Files” can restore missing older items.

Method 8. Use Search Folders to Find Older Emails

1. Click on the “Search box” and set the scope to All Mailboxes(or All Outlook items).
2. Then sort the result by date to find “older messages” quickly.

Method 9. Check Shared Mailbox and Public Folder Cache Settings

1. For shared mailboxes, open them in “Outlook web app”(the web version often shows everything).
2. “Change folder sync settings” in Account Settings.

Method 10. Update Outlook to Latest Version / Ensure Server Connectivity

1. Launch Outlook and click on the “file”.
   
2. Press on “Office Account” and hit on Update Options.
   
3. Now Press on “Update Now” to get newer version of Outlook.
   

Key Features of Recommended Software

• This software can easily recover and convert PST to PDF, EML, MBOX, HTML and 14+ Saving optionS.
• It offers dual mode to easily select batch Outlook files or whole folders to restore Outlook data.
• You can also easily use it as it supports a user-friendly interface to make it reliable for all professional and individual users and also offer user-guide to make it more simple and also offer video mode to make it helpful for all.
• With this wizard, you can also use PST filters such as separate PST per user, split PST file and more to get a well maintained PST file.
• This software also previews the Outlook mailbox folder to verify all data and complete successful conversion.

Conclusion

In this guide, we have shared all possible and tried-and-tested approaches to fix the Outlook Not Displaying Emails Older Than 12 Months error. It may be solved manually, but when Outlook files are highly corrupted, no manual method works. In this situation, you need to opt for an alternative method to fix this error and continue using Outlook with all your complete Outlook data.