Send & Receive Issues

How to Resend an Email Found in Exchange Message Trace

Bushra Parveen Oct 21, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to resend specific emails that were identified using the Exchange admin center's Message Trace feature, including messages originating from external senders.

How to Resend an Email Found in Exchange Message Trace

Product: Microsoft Exchange
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Attempting to recover and resend emails that were accidentally deleted from a public folder and are no longer in standard recovery folders.
Observed behavior: Exchange Message trace displays the mail flow records but lacks any direct button or functionality to resend the actual messages.

Before you start

Verify that you have Microsoft 365 Administrator permissions, as accessing compliance tools to recover deleted server-level messages requires elevated privileges.

Solution 1Recommended

Recover Deleted Emails Using Microsoft Purview Content Search

Since Message Trace does not store email bodies for resending, administrators must use Content Search to locate and recover the permanently deleted public folder messages.

Message Trace is purely a diagnostic tool for tracking mail flow delivery status. It does not retain the actual content of the emails. To retrieve items that have bypassed the standard 'Recover Deleted Items' folder, you must utilize Microsoft's compliance tools.

Access Microsoft Purview

Navigate to Content Search

On the left navigation pane, select 'Content search' located under the Solutions menu.

Create a Search Query

Click 'New search' and define your conditions to target the specific public folder, date range, or sender/recipient email addresses identified in your Message Trace.

Export and Restore

Once the search completes, export the results to a PST file. You can then open this file in Outlook to restore the messages to the public folder or forward them manually.

Recover Deleted Emails Using Microsoft Purview Content Search

Permission Requirements: You must be assigned the eDiscovery Manager role in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal to execute and export content searches.

Solution 2

Request the Original Sender to Resend

If the emails originated from outside the organization and administrative recovery is not feasible, the most straightforward approach is to have the sender transmit the message again.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there no resend button in Exchange Message Trace?

Message Trace is designed exclusively to track the delivery status and routing of emails across the Exchange server. It does not capture or store the actual message body or attachments, which are required to resend an email.

Can I recover an external email that was deleted from a public folder?

Yes, provided the email has not exceeded your organization's data retention policies. An administrator can locate and extract it using Microsoft Purview Content Search.

Where should I look for deleted public folder messages before using Content Search?

First, check the 'Deleted Items' folder, followed by 'Recover Deleted Items' in Outlook. Administrators should also check the Exchange Online PowerShell 'Lost and Found' folder before initiating a full Content Search.

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