Items that you delete are moved to the Deleted Items or Trash folders but aren’t permanently deleted until those folders are emptied. Over time, the contents of the Deleted Items folder can consume a large amount of space on your computer or email server storage quota.
Outlook can be configured to automatically empty the Deleted Items folder, or you can manually empty the folder at any time.
Note: If you're using a Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, or Exchange account, you'll have a Deleted Items folder. If you're using a different type of account (like Gmail or Yahoo or another email account), your folder will be named Trash instead.
Note
If the steps under this New Outlook tab aren't working for you, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet. Select the Classic Outlook tab and follow those steps instead.
Manually empty the Deleted Items folder
In the folder list, right-click the Deleted Items folder, and then select Empty.
Automatically empty the Deleted Items folder
Open new Outlook
Under View, select View Settings.
Select Mail, then Message handling.
Under When closing Outlook option, select the Empty deleted items folder check box.
