retrieve the data from a removed profile

Question

I accidentally removed an user account without taking data back up. Is there any way I can retrieve the data?

Answer 1

When you deleted the user profile, you would have seen a popup dialog asking do you also want to remove the user's files, did you select Yes?

1

Open File Explorer, then go to C:\Users.

In there, do you still see the user folder for that account and if so, are the user's files in there?

2

If not, log into that users OneDrive account in a web browser (https://onedrive.live.com/) to check if their files are still available for download from there.

3

If you are still unable to find the users files, then the only remaining option will be to use some 3rd party recovery utility to try to find and undelete the files.

Answer 2

If the “removed profile” means a deleted user account/profile, recovery options depend on where the account and data lived and whether any recovery features were enabled.

1. If this was a Microsoft Entra ID / Microsoft 365 cloud user
   • When a user is deleted, the account is put into a suspended (soft-deleted) state for 30 days.
   • During those 30 days, the user account and its properties can be restored; after that, it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
   • Restoring the user also restores licenses that were assigned at the time of deletion, even if no licenses are currently available.
   To restore via Microsoft Entra admin center:
   1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as at least a User Administrator.
   2. Go to Entra ID > Users > Deleted users.
   3. Find the deleted user and select Restore user.
   To restore via Microsoft 365 admin center (if it’s a Microsoft 365 user):
   1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Deleted users.
   2. Select the deleted user and choose Restore user.
   3. Complete the password and license steps.
   If the 30‑day window has passed or the user was permanently deleted, the account and its cloud data cannot be restored and a new account must be created.
2. If this was an on-premises Active Directory account
   • If the AD Recycle Bin feature is enabled (Windows Server 2008 R2 or later), deleted user objects can be restored from the Recycle Bin, including group memberships.
   • If AD Recycle Bin is not enabled, recovery requires restoring from backup and performing an authoritative restore of the deleted objects, then restoring group memberships.
   The referenced article describes methods to restore deleted user accounts and their group memberships, and tools such as Groupadd.exe to rebuild group membership after restore.
3. If this was a purely local Windows “home” profile (no Entra/AD)
   • The provided context does not include specific steps for recovering a deleted local Windows user profile or its files.
   • Only the cloud/AD recovery scenarios above are documented in the context.

If the account was a Microsoft Entra / Microsoft 365 user and was deleted less than 30 days ago, use the Deleted users page in Entra or Microsoft 365 admin center to restore it and regain access to associated cloud data. If it is beyond the retention window or was permanently deleted, the data cannot be recovered using the documented methods.

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References:

• Recover deleted data
• Restore or remove a recently deleted user
• Restore a user in the Microsoft 365 admin center
• How to restore deleted user accounts and their group memberships in Active Directory