PowerShell command to bulk restore deleted files from sharepoint recycle bin

Question

Hello

Please i need your help on this issue.

There are thousands of files I need to restore from a site's recycle bin. Is there a faster way to bulk restore them using PowerShell than using the web interface.

When I run PowerShell as an administrator and use the command "Connect-SPOService -Url ..." I get an error saying `Connect-SPOService' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.

Answer 1

Hi @IniobongNkanga-8038,

Thank you for posting in this community.

The error “Connect-SPOService is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet” occurs when the SharePoint Online Management Shell module is not installed or loaded in the current PowerShell session. To resolve this error, follow these steps:

Option 1: Download and Install SharePoint Online Management Shell

You can download and install SharePoint Online Management Shell to your client machine from SharePoint Online Management Shell.

If it’s already installed, try uninstalling and then re-installing.

Option 2: Install SharePoint Online PowerShell Module

Double-check if the SharePoint Online PowerShell Module is installed by:

Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell | Select Name,Version

You can install the SharePoint Online PowerShell Module with the following:

Install-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell

For uninstallation, use:

Uninstall-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -AllVersions -Force

This will install necessary assemblies (.dll files) to the path: C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell<Build-Number>

Other Workarounds:

Although we don’t have to explicitly load the module in PowerShell with “Import-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.Powershell”, give it a try to expose any potential issues.

If you are trying to connect to the SharePoint site from PowerShell through a proxy server, the Connect-SPOService cmdlet connections fail! You have to use the following method to connect to SPO Service:

#Get Credentials to connect
$cred = Get-Credential
[System.Net.WebRequest]::DefaultWebProxy.Credentials = $cred
 
#Connect to SharePoint Online Administration Center
Connect-SPOService -Url "https://<Tenant-admin>.sharepoint.com" -Credential $cred

In another situation, I had to delete all different versions of SharePoint Online client Assemblies from the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) and then install the SharePoint Online PowerShell Module:

1. Navigate to “C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\assembly\GAC_MSIL”
2. Select all folders starting with the name “Microsoft.SharePoint.Client” and delete them all!
3. Finally, Install the PowerShell Module for SharePoint Online: Install-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -force

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Answer 2

Hi Iniobong,

It seems the SPO module for PowerShell is not installed on your device. Though SPO module doesn't have any command that I am aware for bulk restoration.

PnP could help you with that, this sample script might help you. I didn't use it myself though; Restore large amount of items from SharePoint Recycle bin in bulk | PnP Samples

Additionally, this is a free and open-source app that can help you: NovaPoint

This is the doc about restoration of recycle bin: Restore items from the recycle bin