Anyway to restore OneNote projects?

Dear Gill_416,

Thank you for using our Microsoft Community Forum.

I can well understand the inconvenience and pain caused by the loss of important data issue. However, at the outset, I would like to clarify that the Microsoft community only providestechnical support for the software, and none of the community members have access to the server backend data to help you recover your data. Therefore, I will do my best to answer your questions from the strategic and technical levelof the software. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

You want to retrieve files that were lost because you closed the synchronization after deleting them. Unfortunately, since you mentioned that the deletion operation took place months ago, it is likely that these files, which were stored in the OneDrive Recycle Bin, have also been erased. The only factor that affects the duration of their deletion is the type of your account, if you are using OneDrive Personal: 30 days is the Recycle Bin retention period; if you are using OneDrive For Business and you are logged in with a work/school account: the files will be stored in the Recycle Bin for 93 days, and retrieving them after more than 30 days will require your business or school account SharePoint administrator to which it belongs (typically an IT administrator) to recover them.

Steps to access the Recycle Bin:(requires login to OneDrive website)

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Sincerest greetings

Linn |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Thanks for the reply, it was really encouraging for me to be able to help you retrieve your vital notes. I can fully understand your urgency to get your lost notes back. Please log in to your previous account as soon as possible to check the Recycle Bin and contact the IT administrator of your account server at your university.

Sincerest greetings

Linn |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Dear Gill_416,

Thank you for using our Microsoft Community Forum.

I can well understand the inconvenience and pain caused by the loss of important data issue. However, at the outset, I would like to clarify that the Microsoft community only providestechnical support for the software, and none of the community members have access to the server backend data to help you recover your data. Therefore, I will do my best to answer your questions from the strategic and technical levelof the software. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

You want to retrieve files that were lost because you closed the synchronization after deleting them. Unfortunately, since you mentioned that the deletion operation took place months ago, it is likely that these files, which were stored in the OneDrive Recycle Bin, have also been erased. The only factor that affects the duration of their deletion is the type of your account, if you are using OneDrive Personal: 30 days is the Recycle Bin retention period; if you are using OneDrive For Business and you are logged in with a work/school account: the files will be stored in the Recycle Bin for 93 days, and retrieving them after more than 30 days will require your business or school account SharePoint administrator to which it belongs (typically an IT administrator) to recover them.

Steps to access the Recycle Bin:(requires login to OneDrive website)...

Thank you Lin! My account is under my old college email and seems to have been under a school account, so I'll reach out to them and see how I can get in contact with whoever is the SharePoint Administrator and see if they're able to recover anything for me. I don't remember exactly when I deleted the contents in OneDrive, but hopefully it's within that 93 day period. You've offered a ray of hope and an option for me to checkout that I wasn't able to find in my own searches.

Thank you!

Instead of insulting others, you should have simply asked yourself this question before deleting files: where are my notebooks actually stored?

There are 3 places in OneNote where you can see this.

OneNote also has a local backup, if configured accordingly.

Bernd

How was I insulting others? I'm legitimately confused where you're seeing that in my original message.

As for recommending that I "simply ask myself" - That's what I did and that's how I ended up here. When I discovered my notebooks were gone, I started searching for answers of where backups could have been made, asking why and how they got deleted, and have been retracing my steps to figure out what even happened while trying to find what options there were for recovering my projects on my own. I'm not 100% sure that deleting what I thought was just OneDrive is what ended up deleted my Notebooks as well - It's simply the most probably explanation based off of what info I've been able to answer on my own by "simply asking myself" the question you stated as well as several others.

I'll admit that I don't know the ins-and-outs of every Microsoft program and how they interact with each other - And I indirectly state that is the reason why I'm in this problem in the first place. I'm now looking into a community more familiar with Microsoft's apps for a solution after spending a week learning what I can on my own.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, but your answer comes across a little bit condescending, doesn't help answer my question, and comes across as though you misread or skimmed my question before answering.

Instead of insulting others, you should have simply asked yourself this question before deleting files: where are my notebooks actually stored?

There are 3 places in OneNote where you can see this.

OneNote also has a local backup, if configured accordingly.

Bernd