Email is kept in the user's email account into perpetuity unless the user has deleted the email.
Typically, deleted email is moved to the Trash email folder until the Trash email folder is emptied by the user, but if the user is connecting with POP3 (we only recommend IMAP) and email is automatically deleted after downloading (default POP3 setting in most email apps/programs), then those emails are permanently deleted and not moved to the Trash email folder.
See Backups - Types & Disk Space Requirements for information related to cPanel backups and restoration.
Please let us know if you have any questions or need further help.
