Every folder in your Outlook Express mailbox has a connected database with a .DBX file extension. Thus given ‘N’ folders in your Outlook Express mailbox, you also have ‘N’ databases linked to each folder, such as Inbox.dbx, SentItems.dbx, and so on. Another way of stating this is to say that Outlook Express generates separate .DBX files for each folder in your Outlook Express mailbox. This explains why all received email is stored in the Inbox.dbx file, all sent items in the SentItems.dbx file, all contacts in the Contacts.dbx file, and so forth. Individual DBX database files serve as the repository for your Outlook mailbox data.
It’s no wonder that .dbx files are essential to proper operation of Outlook express, then. But occasionally, you may observe that a majority or sometimes even all of your emails to be missing from your Inbox, Sent Items, or some other folder. Or sometimes while cleaning up an Outlook Express folder, you may accidentally delete some messages. In such situations you can try various steps to recover deleted Outlook Express messages, as explained hereafter.