Critical Data Loss - Owner of shared document lost 1 week of work on Word for iPad (Microsoft 365 Education)

Question

Hello,

I am seeking urgent assistance regarding a major data loss on OneDrive. I have lost an entire week’s worth of intensive work on a document of which I am the owner.

My Setup:

• Account: Microsoft 365 Education (University account).

Device: Word for iPad (iOS).

Context:

I worked on this document daily for the past 7 days.

I was extremely vigilant: I consistently verified that the "cloud and checkmark" icon appeared, indicating a successful sync before closing the app.

Important detail on Collaboration: The document is shared with my supervisor (professor). She did not make any edits to the document during the entire week.

The Sync Conflict: However, I kept receiving "Sync Conflict" messages regarding the comments/revisions she had previously left. Every time I reopened the document, I had to "Accept" or "Resolve" the same comments again as if they hadn't been processed. I always selected "Resolve," and the document appeared to update correctly, allowing me to continue my work.

The Problem: Today, the document has suddenly reverted to the version from a week ago.

Version History: I checked via OneDrive.com and within the Word app. There are zero entries for the last 7 days. It’s as if my activity for the entire week was never recorded.

OneDrive Restore: The activity log shows no modifications or sync actions for this specific file during the past week, even though I worked on it every day.

Local Cache: I checked "Recover Unsaved Documents" and the iPad "Files" app, but found nothing.

Questions:

Could the repetitive conflict with old comments have caused Word for iPad to stay in a "temporary" sync state without actually committing changes to the server?

Since I am the owner and using a Microsoft 365 Education account, is there any way for support to recover data from a "failed" sync loop?

Why did the app indicate the file was "Saved" and "Synced" if no version was being created on the server?

This is a critical academic assignment. Any help to recover this data would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.Hello,

I am seeking urgent assistance regarding a major data loss on OneDrive. I have lost an entire week’s worth of intensive work on a document of which I am the owner.

My Setup:

Account: Microsoft 365 Education (University account).

Device: Word for iPad (iOS).

Context:

I worked on this document daily for the past 7 days.

I was extremely vigilant: I consistently verified that the "cloud and checkmark" icon appeared, indicating a successful sync before closing the app.

Important detail on Collaboration: The document is shared with my supervisor (professor). She did not make any edits to the document during the entire week.

The Sync Conflict: However, I kept receiving "Sync Conflict" messages regarding the comments/revisions she had previously left. Every time I reopened the document, I had to "Accept" or "Resolve" the same comments again as if they hadn't been processed. I always selected "Resolve," and the document appeared to update correctly, allowing me to continue my work.

The Problem: Today, the document has suddenly reverted to the version from a week ago.

Version History: I checked via OneDrive.com and within the Word app. There are zero entries for the last 7 days. It’s as if my activity for the entire week was never recorded.

OneDrive Restore: The activity log shows no modifications or sync actions for this specific file during the past week, even though I worked on it every day.

Local Cache: I checked "Recover Unsaved Documents" and the iPad "Files" app, but found nothing.

Questions:

Could the repetitive conflict with old comments have caused Word for iPad to stay in a "temporary" sync state without actually committing changes to the server?

Since I am the owner and using a Microsoft 365 Education account, is there any way for support to recover data from a "failed" sync loop?

Why did the app indicate the file was "Saved" and "Synced" if no version was being created on the server?

This is a critical academic assignment. Any help to recover this data would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Dear @Marianne Brouillette,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I'm very sorry to hear about the critical data loss. Losing a week's worth of intensive work on an academic assignment is incredibly frustrating, especially after consistently trying to sync properly. As a forum moderator, I truly wish I could directly access your account to resolve this. However, my role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that users can apply themselves.

This issue, involving repeated sync conflicts with old comments and the app showing "Saved" along with the cloud/check icon (but no versions in the history), is something that sometimes occurs with Word for iPad (iOS) in Microsoft 365 environments, particularly when co-authoring and shared files are involved, and conflicts aren’t fully cleared. Please follow the steps below to see if they help:

1.Restore Your Entire OneDrive to a Previous Point

• Go to OneDrive.com > Settings (gear icon top-right) > Restore your OneDrive.
• Select a date before the loss started (e.g., 1 to 3 week ago) > review activities > Restore.
• Caution: This affects your whole OneDrive newer files post-restore date go to Recycle bin. Back up anything recent first.

2.Check Recycle Bin and Other Locations

• OneDrive.com > Recycle bin (left menu): Search for the file name or recent deletions. Restore if found (Education accounts retain ~93 days).
• In Word app: File > Open > Recent (or Recover Unsaved Documents if any crash occurred).
• iPad Files app: Browse > On My iPad > look for Microsoft Word temp/cache folders (rarely holds full versions).
• Confirm no duplicate/conflicted copies (e.g., "filename - Conflict" or timestamped).

3.Contact Your University IT Admin

• Your best chance for recovery lies with your university’s SharePoint/M365 admin. They can check the Purview audit logs to verify whether your iPad attempted to upload data, which could help prove to your professor that the work was done, even if the file itself is unrecoverable.
• Your IT admin can also submit a support ticket with Microsoft on your behalf. Microsoft Support has a site-level recovery tool that can restore data, even if it doesn’t appear in Version History or the Recycle Bin. Please report the issue to them as soon as possible, as they can only go back 14 days from the point of data "purge."

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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