Don't want to shatter your hopes, but if you've deleted the emails from the "deleted" folder, chances are you'll never see those emails again. There is no such thing as a "hidden backup". The PST file is encrypted, and once you delete emails, they are deleted from the .PST file. The "recover deleted items" is for when you are working in an Exchange environment. In Exchange you can set a "retention time"... a period of time where deleted emails are still held on the server. Your best chance is to ask people to resend the emails to you. Regards, 'nuff