Recovering Deleted Items from an Exchange 2003 Public Folder

Q. Can you recover deleted items from a Microsoft Exchange Server public folder?

A. Yes, the same "Recover deleted items" option that's available for a user mailbox is available for a public folder. However, unlike a mailbox, when you delete an item from a public folder, the item doesn't go to a "Deleted items" folder. Instead, it's simply hidden (by setting the PR_DELETED_ON property) and isn't actually deleted until the "Deleted item retention" period on the public folder store has elapsed. You set the "Deleted item retention" option on public folders by selecting the public folder store in Exchange System Manager (ESM) and selecting Properties from the File menu. Set the "Keep deleted items for (days)" value to the number of days you want to save the contents of the "Deleted items" folder. Remember that if the public folder has replicas, you need to set the recovery time on each public store on each server. To recover an item, you must have Editor permissions on the folder (i.e., full Read, Write, and Delete permissions). Select the public folder from which the item was deleted and select "Recovery Deleted Items" from the Tools menu of the Microsoft Office Outlook client.