Restore from recycle bin stuck on "Waiting..."

Question

I am trying to restore some photos from the recycle bin.

I was able to do about 100, then it completely stalled.

I have:

1. restarted the browser
2. logged out then restarted the browser
3. cleared browser cache, logged out, restarted the browser and computer
4. reset my wifi
5. waited three hours

What else should I try?

*I understand there is a restore One Drive function but I want that to be the last option bc I am sure there were things on and off the Drive while I was moving things around and yeah, trying to lose as little permanently as possible.

Answer 1

Here's a trick for selecting all items in the recycle bin. Restoring all files at once has worked when other methods have failed.

Scroll down to the last file in the list. Press and hold the Shift key while selecting the last item. All files should then be selected. Now scroll to the top of the page and click "Restore". Give it some time, and hopefully that will work.

Answer 2

Hello strivingniqabi,

I understand that you are having issue when restore from the OneDrive Recycle bin gets stuck on “Waiting…". I truly understand how you feel. Let me assist you go through this situation.

I suggest you try these steps

1. Restore in very small batches

OneDrive can silently stall when restoring too many items at once. Do this:

• Go to https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/onedrive/online-cloud-storage > Recycle bin
• Select 10–20 photos max
• Select Restore
• Wait until they fully reappear before selecting more

Large batches are known to stall even if no error is shown.

2. Use Private / Incognito mode

This avoids cached scripts that can break long restore jobs. Steps:

• Open a Private / Incognito browser window
• Sign in to OneDrive.com
• Go straight to Recycle bin
• Restore a small batch

3. Try a different browser

If you used Chrome/Edge already, switch (Edge/ Chrome/ Firefox).

No system changes needed, just repeat:

OneDrive.com > Recycle bin > small batch restore

(Web restore logic differs slightly per browser)

4. Restore from the OneDrive desktop app (if installed)

Sometimes the sync client succeeds where the web UI stalls.

If you have OneDrive installed:

• Open File Explorer
• Right‑click the OneDrive icon > View online
• Restore again in small batches

(Desktop + web session often behaves more reliably)

5. Check Personal Vault

Photos from Personal Vault won’t restore unless it’s unlocked. Steps:

• In Recycle bin, select Show Personal Vault items
• Unlock Vault
• Restore those items separately

For more information, please check out this page:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/find-lost-or-missing-files-in-onedrive-0d929e0d-8682-4295-982b-4bd75a3daa01

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/restore-deleted-files-or-folders-in-onedrive-949ada80-0026-4db3-a953-c99083e6a84f

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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