How to Recover Deleted Microsoft 365 Files

9 September 2025 By BOBcloud Team BOBcloud

Where Deleted Files Go in Microsoft 365

Before recovering a deleted file, it helps to understand what happens when something is deleted in Microsoft 365. The answer varies depending on which service the file was in.

OneDrive for Business

When a file is deleted from OneDrive, it goes to the OneDrive Recycle Bin. It stays there for 93 days unless the Recycle Bin is manually emptied. After 93 days — or after the Recycle Bin is emptied — the file moves to a second-stage recycle bin, accessible only to SharePoint administrators, where it stays for a further period before being permanently deleted.

SharePoint Online

SharePoint works similarly to OneDrive. Deleted items go to the site Recycle Bin (first stage), then to the site collection Recycle Bin (second stage), before being permanently removed. The combined retention across both stages is 93 days.

Exchange Online (Email)

Deleted emails go to the Deleted Items folder first. When deleted from there, they move to Recoverable Items — a hidden folder that retains deleted items for 14 days by default (extendable to 30 days). After that, items are permanently purged.

Recovering Files from OneDrive

From the Recycle Bin (within 93 days)

  1. Go to onedrive.com or open OneDrive in a browser
  2. Click Recycle bin in the left navigation
  3. Find the file or folder you want to restore
  4. Right-click and select Restore, or select the item and click Restore at the top

The file will be restored to its original location.

Using Version History

If a file was overwritten rather than deleted, version history may help:

  1. Navigate to the file in OneDrive
  2. Right-click the file and select Version history
  3. Review the list of previous versions with timestamps
  4. Click the date of the version you want to restore, then select Restore

If the File Has Been Permanently Deleted

If more than 93 days have passed, or the Recycle Bin has been emptied, recovery via Microsoft's built-in tools is not possible. This is where a third-party backup solution becomes essential.

Recovering Files from SharePoint

From the Site Recycle Bin

  1. Go to the SharePoint site where the file was stored
  2. Click Recycle bin in the left navigation (or go to Site Settings > Recycle Bin)
  3. Select the item and click Restore

From the Site Collection Recycle Bin (Admin Only)

If the item has been deleted from the site Recycle Bin:

  1. Go to Site Settings > Site Collection Administration > Recycle Bin
  2. Select Deleted from end user Recycle Bin to see second-stage items
  3. Select the item and click Restore

Recovering Deleted Emails in Exchange Online

From the Deleted Items Folder

The simplest case — the email is still in Deleted Items:

  1. Open Outlook or Outlook on the web
  2. Go to the Deleted Items folder
  3. Find the email and move it back to the Inbox or appropriate folder

From Recoverable Items

If the email has been deleted from Deleted Items:

  1. In Outlook on the web, go to the Deleted Items folder
  2. Click Recover items deleted from this folder (the link at the top)
  3. Select the emails to recover and click Restore

In the Outlook desktop client:

  1. Go to the Deleted Items folder
  2. On the Folder tab, click Recover Deleted Items
  3. Select the items and click Restore Selected Items

Admin Recovery via Exchange Admin Centre

For emails that have passed the standard retention period, or for recovery on behalf of another user, Microsoft 365 administrators can access the Exchange Admin Centre and use Content Search or eDiscovery tools to locate and export items.

When Microsoft's Tools Are Not Enough

Microsoft's built-in recovery tools work well within their retention windows. But there are scenarios where they fall short:

  • Files deleted more than 93 days ago — permanently gone from Microsoft's systems
  • Mailboxes that have been deleted — if a user's account is removed and the mailbox deleted, recovery is limited
  • Ransomware — if ransomware syncs encrypted versions of files to OneDrive or SharePoint, version history may not go back far enough to find clean versions
  • Bulk deletion — if a large number of files are deleted at once (deliberately or accidentally), restoring them individually via the Recycle Bin is extremely time-consuming
  • Configuration errors — if data is overwritten by an application error or sync issue, versions may not capture the original state

This is why third-party Microsoft 365 backup exists. A proper backup solution takes independent, point-in-time snapshots of all Microsoft 365 data and stores them outside of Microsoft's infrastructure. Recovery is fast, granular, and available regardless of how long ago the deletion occurred.

For MSPs: Helping Clients Recover Data

When a client calls saying they've lost data from Microsoft 365, the first questions to ask are:

  1. What was deleted — email, OneDrive file, SharePoint document?
  2. When was it deleted?
  3. Has the Recycle Bin been emptied?

If the deletion is recent and within Microsoft's retention windows, the built-in tools described above will usually recover the data. If not, a third-party backup solution is the only option.

BOBcloud's Microsoft 365 backup provides point-in-time recovery for Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, with granular item-level restore. Find out more about our Microsoft 365 backup for MSPs.