Remove Annoying Folders from Microsoft Outlook

77 comments for “Remove Annoying Folders from Microsoft Outlook”

1. Louis Oyaert,

   January 3, 2024 at 10:10 am

   For people who accidentally removed the wrong folder, I used chatGPT to help me recover them, underneath you can find the prompts I did to help me recover all my folders and subfolders. The last 2 prompts didn’t seem to work until i restarted my outlook. Then my problem was solved.
   The folder I deleted was ‘Archive’ with 50 subfolders and over 2000 mails. All were recovered.
   I hope this helps you, as I did not find any other working solution.
   Anyone can feel free to remove unnessecary inquiries, I am short on time, so I am just dumping the full conversation.

   Hi ChatGPT. I used the following script to remove some folders in Outlook:

   Option Explicit

   Public Sub HideFolders()

   Dim oFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim oPA As Outlook.PropertyAccessor
   Dim PropName, Value, FolderType As String

   PropName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   Value = True

   Set oFolder = Application.ActiveExplorer.CurrentFolder
   Set oPA = oFolder.PropertyAccessor

   oPA.SetProperty PropName, Value

   Set oFolder = Nothing
   Set oPA = Nothing
   End Sub

   I deleted a folder I did not want to delete though. Could you write me a script to show all the folders again?

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   Certainly! To revert the changes and show all folders in Outlook again, you can use the following VBA script. This script sets the property value back to false, enabling the display of the folders that were hidden using the previous script:

   vba
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   Option Explicit

   Public Sub ShowFolders()
   Dim oFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim oPA As Outlook.PropertyAccessor
   Dim PropName, Value, FolderType As String

   PropName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   Value = False ‘ Change the value back to False to show folders

   Set oFolder = Application.ActiveExplorer.CurrentFolder
   Set oPA = oFolder.PropertyAccessor

   oPA.SetProperty PropName, Value

   Set oFolder = Nothing
   Set oPA = Nothing
   End Sub
   This script will set the value of the specified property to False, making the folders visible again. You can run this script within the Outlook VBA editor by pressing Alt + F11 to open the editor, inserting a new module (Insert > Module), and then pasting and executing the code within the module.

   ——————

   User
   The original code I gave hid the folder ‘Archive’. How do I return it

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   To specifically unhide the ‘Archive’ folder, you’ll need to modify the script to target the ‘Archive’ folder and set its property to false to make it visible again. Here’s an updated script to accomplish this task:

   vba
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   Option Explicit

   Public Sub ShowArchiveFolder()
   Dim oFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim oNamespace As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim oPA As Outlook.PropertyAccessor
   Dim PropName, FolderPath As String
   Dim Value As Boolean

   ‘ Set the folder path to the Archive folder
   FolderPath = “Archive” ‘ Update this with the correct path of your Archive folder

   ‘ Get the Outlook namespace and the Archive folder
   Set oNamespace = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)
   Set oFolder = oNamespace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Folders(FolderPath)

   ‘ Property name for hiding/showing folders
   PropName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   Value = False ‘ Change the value to False to show the folder

   ‘ Set the property to make the folder visible
   Set oPA = oFolder.PropertyAccessor
   oPA.SetProperty PropName, Value

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set oFolder = Nothing
   Set oPA = Nothing
   Set oNamespace = Nothing
   End Sub
   Replace ‘Archive’ in the FolderPath variable with the correct name or path of your ‘Archive’ folder in Outlook. Run this script in the VBA editor to specifically unhide the ‘Archive’ folder. This script will set the property to False, making the specified folder visible again in Outlook.

   ——————

   User
   How do I find the correct name or path of the folder?

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   You can find the correct path or name of a folder in Outlook by following these steps:

   Manual Inspection:

   Open Outlook.
   Navigate to the folder you want to reveal or work with.
   Right-click on the folder and select “Properties” or “Folder Properties.”
   Folder Properties:

   In the properties window, you might find the folder name or path displayed. Note down this information.
   VBA to List Folder Names:
   If you prefer using VBA to list folder names, you can use the following script:

   vba
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   Sub ListFolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim folder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim parentFolder As Outlook.Folder

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)
   Set parentFolder = ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox) ‘ You can set another folder as the starting point

   ‘ Iterate through the folders
   For Each folder In parentFolder.Folders
   Debug.Print folder.FolderPath ‘ Print folder paths in the Immediate Window (Ctrl + G to open)
   Next folder

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set folder = Nothing
   Set parentFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub
   Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA editor in Outlook.
   Insert a new module (Insert > Module).
   Paste the code into the module.
   Run the ListFolders subroutine by clicking on it and pressing F5. This will list the folder paths in the Immediate Window (Ctrl + G) of the VBA editor.
   Look through the list to find the path of the folder you want to reveal. Once you have the correct path or name, you can use the previous script provided (with the specific folder path) to unhide that particular folder.

   ——————

   User
   This only shows the folders paths of my inbox. I want it to show other maps such as archive and rss feeds as well

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   Certainly! To iterate through all folders, including those outside the Inbox, you can modify the VBA code to recursively traverse all folders within the mailbox. Here’s an updated script:

   vba
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   Sub ListAllFolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim folder As Outlook.Folder

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   ‘ Call the recursive function to list all folders
   ListFoldersRecursively ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set folder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub

   Sub ListFoldersRecursively(ByVal currentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
   Dim subFolder As Outlook.Folder

   ‘ Iterate through the folders in the current level
   For Each subFolder In currentFolder.Folders
   Debug.Print subFolder.FolderPath ‘ Print folder paths in the Immediate Window (Ctrl + G to open)

   ‘ Check if the current folder has subfolders
   If subFolder.Folders.Count > 0 Then
   ‘ If yes, call the function recursively to traverse subfolders
   ListFoldersRecursively subFolder
   End If
   Next subFolder
   End Sub
   This updated code will traverse through all folders in the Outlook mailbox and list their paths in the Immediate Window in the VBA editor. Run the ListAllFolders subroutine to see the paths of all folders including ‘Archive,’ ‘RSS Feeds,’ and others within your Outlook mailbox.

   Remember, the Immediate Window (Ctrl + G) in the VBA editor will display the folder paths for you to locate the specific folder you want to reveal. Once you identify the correct path or name of the folder you wish to unhide, you can modify the earlier VBA script to unhide that particular folder.

   ——————

   User
   This still only shows the Inbox folders. Default folders such as ‘Deleted Items’ are still invisible

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   I apologize for the confusion earlier. Retrieving the paths of default folders like ‘Deleted Items’ or ‘Sent Items’ might require a different approach. You can use the EntryID of these default folders to access and reveal them. Here’s a revised code that retrieves the EntryIDs of some default folders:

   vba
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   Sub ListDefaultFolderEntryIDs()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim defaultFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim folderNames() As Variant
   Dim i As Integer

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   ‘ Array of default folder names to get EntryIDs
   folderNames = Array(“Deleted Items”, “Sent Items”, “Drafts”, “Junk Email”, “Outbox”, “Archive”, “RSS Feeds”)

   ‘ Loop through the default folders to retrieve EntryIDs
   For i = LBound(folderNames) To UBound(folderNames)
   Set defaultFolder = ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Parent.Folders(folderNames(i))
   Debug.Print folderNames(i) & “: ” & defaultFolder.EntryID
   Next i

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set defaultFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub
   This code will print the EntryIDs of several default folders such as ‘Deleted Items,’ ‘Sent Items,’ ‘Drafts,’ ‘Junk Email,’ ‘Outbox,’ ‘Archive,’ and ‘RSS Feeds’ in the Immediate Window of the VBA editor. You can use these EntryIDs to directly access and unhide these folders programmatically if they’ve been hidden inadvertently.

   If you need to unhide a specific folder using its EntryID, please let me know, and I can provide you with the code to unhide it.

   ——————

   User
   I found the archive ID, it was: 000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000

   How do I unhide this

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   To unhide the ‘Archive’ folder using its EntryID in Outlook VBA, you can directly access the folder and modify its property to make it visible again. Here’s the VBA code to accomplish this:

   vba
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   Sub UnhideArchiveFolder()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim archiveFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim entryID As String

   ‘ Archive folder’s EntryID
   entryID = “000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000” ‘ Replace with your EntryID

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   ‘ Access the folder using EntryID
   Set archiveFolder = ns.GetFolderFromID(entryID)

   ‘ Property name for hiding/showing folders
   Dim propName As String
   Dim value As Boolean

   propName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   value = False ‘ Change the value to False to show the folder

   ‘ Set the property to make the folder visible
   archiveFolder.PropertyAccessor.SetProperty propName, value

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set archiveFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub
   Replace the entryID variable value with your ‘Archive’ folder’s EntryID and run this script in the VBA editor within Outlook. This will modify the specified folder’s property to False, making it visible again.

   Remember to back up any critical data before making changes to ensure no unintended data loss occurs.

   ——————

   User
   How do I unhide all of the subfolders?

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   To unhide all the subfolders within a specific folder, including the ‘Archive’ folder and its subfolders, you can use a recursive function in VBA. Here’s an example to unhide all the subfolders within the ‘Archive’ folder:

   vba
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   Sub UnhideAllSubfolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim parentFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim archiveFolder As Outlook.Folder

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   ‘ Specify the parent folder (change this to your parent folder if ‘Archive’ is not directly under Inbox)
   Set parentFolder = ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)

   ‘ Access the ‘Archive’ folder (change “Archive” to the correct folder name if different)
   Set archiveFolder = parentFolder.Folders(“Archive”)

   ‘ Call the recursive function to unhide all subfolders within ‘Archive’
   UnhideSubfolders archiveFolder

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set archiveFolder = Nothing
   Set parentFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub

   Sub UnhideSubfolders(ByVal currentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
   Dim subFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim propName As String
   Dim value As Boolean

   ‘ Property name for hiding/showing folders
   propName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   value = False ‘ Change the value to False to show the folder

   ‘ Set the property to make the current folder visible
   currentFolder.PropertyAccessor.SetProperty propName, value

   ‘ Loop through subfolders and unhide them recursively
   For Each subFolder In currentFolder.Folders
   UnhideSubfolders subFolder ‘ Recursively unhide subfolders
   Next subFolder
   End Sub
   This code will recursively traverse through all the subfolders within the ‘Archive’ folder and set the property to make them visible (False). Ensure you replace “Archive” with the correct folder name if it’s located in a different parent folder.

   Run the UnhideAllSubfolders subroutine in the VBA editor within Outlook to unhide all the subfolders within the specified folder.

   ——————

   User
   I received the error ‘Run-time error’ – (8004010f)’
   The attemptet operation failed. An object could not be found.

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   The error you encountered (Run-time error – 8004010f) typically occurs when Outlook encounters difficulties locating a specific folder or object. It’s possible that the folder specified (“Archive” in this case) might not be found directly under the Inbox or within the path you specified.

   To resolve this issue, you can modify the code to use a different method to find the ‘Archive’ folder. One alternative is to use the folder’s EntryID to locate it. Here’s an updated code snippet that retrieves the EntryID of the ‘Archive’ folder and unhides its subfolders:

   vba
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   Sub UnhideArchiveSubfolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim archiveFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim entryID As String

   ‘ Archive folder’s EntryID
   entryID = “000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000” ‘ Replace with your EntryID

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   On Error Resume Next
   ‘ Access the folder using EntryID
   Set archiveFolder = ns.GetFolderFromID(entryID)

   If Err.Number 0 Then
   MsgBox “Folder not found!”, vbExclamation
   Exit Sub
   End If
   On Error GoTo 0

   ‘ Call the recursive function to unhide all subfolders within ‘Archive’
   UnhideSubfolders archiveFolder

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set archiveFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub

   Sub UnhideSubfolders(ByVal currentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
   Dim subFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim propName As String
   Dim value As Boolean

   ‘ Property name for hiding/showing folders
   propName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   value = False ‘ Change the value to False to show the folder

   ‘ Set the property to make the current folder visible
   currentFolder.PropertyAccessor.SetProperty propName, value

   ‘ Loop through subfolders and unhide them recursively
   For Each subFolder In currentFolder.Folders
   UnhideSubfolders subFolder ‘ Recursively unhide subfolders
   Next subFolder
   End Sub
   Replace the entryID variable value with the correct EntryID of your ‘Archive’ folder. Run the UnhideArchiveSubfolders subroutine in the VBA editor within Outlook to unhide all the subfolders within the ‘Archive’ folder.

   ——————

   User
   The entry ID was: 000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000
   Could you add this to the code

   ——————

   ChatGPT
   Certainly! I’ve incorporated the EntryID you provided into the code snippet. Here it is:

   vba
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   Sub UnhideArchiveSubfolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim archiveFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim entryID As String

   ‘ Replace this with the provided EntryID for the ‘Archive’ folder
   entryID = “000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000”

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   On Error Resume Next
   ‘ Access the folder using EntryID
   Set archiveFolder = ns.GetFolderFromID(entryID)

   If Err.Number 0 Then
   MsgBox “Folder not found!”, vbExclamation
   Exit Sub
   End If
   On Error GoTo 0

   ‘ Call the recursive function to unhide all subfolders within ‘Archive’
   UnhideSubfolders archiveFolder

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set archiveFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub

   Sub UnhideSubfolders(ByVal currentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
   Dim subFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim propName As String
   Dim value As Boolean

   ‘ Property name for hiding/showing folders
   propName = “http://schemas.microsoft.com/mapi/proptag/0x10F4000B”
   value = False ‘ Change the value to False to show the folder

   ‘ Set the property to make the current folder visible
   currentFolder.PropertyAccessor.SetProperty propName, value

   ‘ Loop through subfolders and unhide them recursively
   For Each subFolder In currentFolder.Folders
   UnhideSubfolders subFolder ‘ Recursively unhide subfolders
   Next subFolder
   End Sub
   This updated code now incorporates the EntryID you provided for the ‘Archive’ folder. Run the UnhideArchiveSubfolders subroutine in the VBA editor within Outlook to unhide all the subfolders within the specified ‘Archive’ folder using its EntryID.

   ——————

   User
   No errors occured, but it did not show me the subfolders.
   ChatGPT
   Apologies for the inconvenience. If the script didn’t unhide the subfolders within the ‘Archive’ folder as expected, let’s attempt a different approach to unhide those subfolders. Here’s an alternative method using a different property to show the subfolders:

   vba
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   Sub UnhideArchiveSubfolders()
   Dim ns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim archiveFolder As Outlook.Folder
   Dim entryID As String

   ‘ Replace this with the provided EntryID for the ‘Archive’ folder
   entryID = “000000006A0270E78FF9A146908A0E250C6044FE010077F5F6A3E37FA441B38077843B3384430000000001130000”

   ‘ Create Outlook application object
   Set ns = Application.GetNamespace(“MAPI”)

   On Error Resume Next
   ‘ Access the folder using EntryID
   Set archiveFolder = ns.GetFolderFromID(entryID)

   If Err.Number 0 Then
   MsgBox “Folder not found!”, vbExclamation
   Exit Sub
   End If
   On Error GoTo 0

   ‘ Unhide the ‘Archive’ folder
   archiveFolder.ShowAsOutlookAB = False

   ‘ Unhide subfolders within ‘Archive’
   UnhideSubfolders archiveFolder

   ‘ Clean up objects
   Set archiveFolder = Nothing
   Set ns = Nothing
   End Sub

   Sub UnhideSubfolders(ByVal currentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
   Dim subFolder As Outlook.Folder

   ‘ Loop through subfolders and unhide them
   For Each subFolder In currentFolder.Folders
   subFolder.ShowAsOutlookAB = False ‘ Unhide the subfolder
   UnhideSubfolders subFolder ‘ Recursively unhide subfolders
   Next subFolder
   End Sub
   This code attempts to unhide the subfolders within the ‘Archive’ folder by setting the ShowAsOutlookAB property to False. Run the UnhideArchiveSubfolders subroutine in the VBA editor within Outlook to attempt to unhide the subfolders within the specified ‘Archive’ folder using its EntryID.

   Reply
2. Samantha,

   November 28, 2023 at 3:23 pm

   This is awesome. Is there a way to get rid of “Search Folders” or the “Groups” tabs? Those are the only ones I can’t get rid of and those were two of the main ones I wanted to hide.

   Reply
3. Jean,

   August 23, 2023 at 4:13 pm

   Awesome! Worked great! Thanks so much!

   Reply
4. Bandi,

   July 9, 2023 at 2:19 am

   This works great, and yes, will remove anything, including subfolders of Public Folders; and subfolders of the Favorites of the Public Folders.
   Not so great, is I inadvertently ran the script not meaning to. :-(

   So, I unintentionally hid a subfolder called “Watch Items” that was in the Favorites folder.
   The “Watch Items” subfolder is still showing in the “Public Folders” and works there, but does not show in Favorites.
   (There are about 115 subfolders in Public Folders, so a nuisance to have to scroll thru to find what you want, Favorites is a good feature).
   Going to Public Folders and ‘re-adding’ “Watch Items” to Favorites does not cause it to show.
   Oh, and yes, we are fully closing, then restarting Outlook 2016 each time.

   What modification to the ‘unhide’ script to find the correct hierarchy and etc?
   We welcome your suggestions for repair.
   Thank you.

   Reply
5. Walter Jacobs,

   November 30, 2022 at 3:24 pm

   Very clear instruction. Worked great! Thanks.

   Reply
6. Morgan,

   August 8, 2022 at 1:06 pm

   Thank you so much! This was perfect.

   Reply
7. Zach,

   March 23, 2022 at 5:20 pm

   My calendar was deleted it tried the second script to recover a hidden calendar but it is not working

   Reply
8. Sally,

   March 12, 2022 at 7:53 am

   Woo it worked

   Reply
9. Sharon K Miller,

   February 7, 2022 at 8:03 pm

   THANK YOU!!! It worked beautifully for the folders, but it doesn’t work for Groups and Group Calendars, which also need to go.

   Reply
10. Sharon Miller,

    February 7, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    THANK YOU!!!

    Reply
11. Rick,

    November 18, 2021 at 1:43 pm

    didn’t realize two boxes were selected, RSS and Inbox. Now on one of my accounts there is NO way to get inbox back. Tried the new “Unhide” script and it didn’t work. Is there a script that works to get a previously hidden file back, or a way to undo the macro on an account? I now cannot view any incoming messages as inbox is hidden.

    Reply
12. sarah,

    October 7, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    Thanks so much!

    I am not a developer and even a bit obtuse when it comes to technology – but I run four shared emails for my company and I was determined to find a way to trim the fat.
    This was easy enough for even me to do – gracias!

    Reply
13. Jacques,

    September 14, 2021 at 9:41 am

    Very, very nice! exactly what i’ve been looking for.

    I removed:
    RSS Subscriptions
    Conversation History
    Clutter

    My outlook looks very slick now!

    From the warnings and comments – don’t mess around with it and just delete any folder. It asks no questions, the highlighted folder is just gone, immediately.

    Reply
14. PEG DE MONTMORENCY,

    September 8, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Wow! This actually works and didn’t screw up anything else in Outlook Pro 2019.
    Thank you magical guru.

    Reply
15. Steve,

    August 30, 2021 at 1:24 pm

    Wow, very dangerous and can really jack up your Outlook. I highly recommend that everyone just deal with the unneeded folders and not attempt to hide them with this script!

    If you are going to leave these instructions up, please inform people not to attempt to hide the Search folder. This apparently cannot be done. When you highlight that folder and run the script, it auto selects another folder and not the Search folder. You then have just hid a very important folder such as the Sent folder by accident..

    Your script for unhiding those folders doesn’t work and produces a Visual Basic error.

    I’ve already spent hours and hours attempting to unhide the Sent folder and still do not have it resolved. Reinstalling Office doesn’t work either. I also noticed that accessing the web version of Outlook doesn’t show the hidden folder either.

    Reply
16. Clueless,

    July 14, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    awesome script! Thx so much!

    Reply
17. Wien Dai,

    February 12, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    Awesome script! Saved my day! Thank you, Guru!

    Reply
18. Alberto,

    January 27, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    I love you!!!!! there’s been such a long time I am trying to get rid of the annoying Conversation History and RSS Subscriptions. I couldn’t do it however for the Search Folders.
    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
19. Jeff,

    January 14, 2021 at 5:19 pm

    RE: Unhiding Folders…This workaround worked for me: Log into Outlook.live.com; all of the folders you removed should appear there. In Outlook.live, move any email to the folder you want to appear in Outlook and mark that email as “Unread.” The folder appears back in Outlook. Hope this helps!

    Reply
20. Jeff,

    January 13, 2021 at 10:31 pm

    Does anyone have an update on how to unhide a folder? I’ve hidden a folder from one of the 5 email accounts I have in Outlook. I’ve tried the articles instructions and suggestions in the comments with zero success.

    Reply