I accidentally deleted files from my OneDrive cloud today and emptied the Recycle Bin.

Question

I accidentally deleted files from my OneDrive cloud today and emptied the Recycle Bin. Can you please help me restore them from backend storage? It happened within the last few hours.

Answer 1

Hi Manjila,

If the account has a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can restore your Onedrive. However, deleted files from it cannot be recovered; Microsoft also says this.

https://support.microsoft.com/office/restore-your-onedrive-fa231298-759d-41cf-bcd0-25ac53eb8a15

At this point you appear to be out of luck, sorry :(

Answer 2

If you have emptied the Recycle Bin in OneDrive, the files are typically moved to the second-stage Recycle Bin, where they are retained for 93 days. However, if you have deleted files from your OneDrive and emptied the Recycle Bin, restoring them from backend storage is not possible through standard user actions. You may need to contact a SharePoint Administrator for assistance, as they can restore the OneDrive if it is still within the retention period.

For future reference, OneDrive also has a Files Restore feature that allows users to restore files to any point in time within the last 30 days, which can be useful in similar situations.

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References:

• Restore a deleted OneDrive
• Overview of OneDrive in Microsoft 365