Data loss from accidental deletion on OneDrive can cause significant distress, but recovery is achievable. This guide presents several detailed, step-by-step approaches to restoring deleted files in OneDrive, addressing common scenarios such as items in the Recycle Bin or those marked as permanently deleted.
As a powerful backup tool, OneDrive allows you to recover files permanently deleted from your PC within a specified period. However, can you still retrieve important files that have been removed from OneDrive itself? The good news is that recovery is often possible. Yes, in most cases, you can retrieve files that have been removed on OneDrive—even if you deleted them intentionally or by accident.
When a file is deleted from OneDrive, it typically goes through several stages before it is permanently lost. Initially, deleted files are moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin, where they remain for a default period (usually 30 days). If not recovered during that time, they may still be found in the Second-Stage Recycle Bin, depending on your account type or organization’s settings.
OneDrive is designed with built-in recovery mechanisms that make it possible to restore deleted files easily, whether they were removed minutes ago or even weeks ago. There are 4 ways you can try to restore deleted files on OneDrive. Even if both Recycle Bins have been cleared, other recovery options may still be available.
When you delete files from OneDrive, they’re first moved to the Recycle Bin, where they’re typically stored for 30 days (or based on your organization's policy). You can easily recover them from there. This is the quickest and most direct way to restore deleted files in OneDrive to their original locations.
Step 1. Sign in to OneDrive with your correct account.
Step 2. On the left sidebar, select the "Recycle Bin" section.
Step 3. Choose the files you want to recover and click "Restore".
In addition to the Recycle Bin, OneDrive offers a "Second-Stage Recycle Bin" that retains files permanently deleted from OneDrive—such as those deleted with "Shift+Delete", emptied the Recycle Bin or files surpass the retention period.
Step 1. At the bottom of the Recycle Bin page, click "Second-stage recycle bin".
Step 2. Find and select the deleted items, then click "Restore".
If the local sync mode "Always keep on this device" is enabled, and files are deleted from the OneDrive webpage or app, the deleted files will also be removed locally and moved to the local Recycle Bin. This is because this mode enforces complete consistency between the local storage and the cloud. Therefore, you can still restore the file from Windows Recycle Bin.
Step 1. Double click the Recycle Bin icon on your Windows to open it.
Step 2. Browse and select the file you want to recover.
Step 3. Right click it and choose "Restore" to recover it to its original location.
If a file doesn't go to the Recycle Bin but remains in the local folder, you just need to back it up to OneDrive again.
If files were massively deleted or corrupted, and you're unsure when or how it happened, you can restore your entire OneDrive to a previous date. This advanced option is perfect for how to restore deleted files from OneDrive in bulk or in the event of ransomware or accidental large deletions.
Step 1. Sign in to OneDrive with correct account.
Step 2. At the right-panel, click the gear icon and choose "Restore your OneDrive".
Step 3. On the "Restore your OneDrive" page, choose a date from the dropdown list.
Step 4. Review recent activities you wish to undo by using the activity chart and activity feed, and select the activities you want to undo.
Step 5. When you’re ready to restore your OneDrive, select "Restore". Then your OneDrive will be restored to the state before the first activity you selected.
If OneDrive’s recovery options fail—for instance, due to unsynced files or an expired retention period—you can turn to local recovery solutions. When you have no backups available, these two data recovery tools play a critical role. One is a command-line tool, and the other is a GUI (graphical user interface) tool, allowing you to choose the appropriate method based on your usage habits.
Windows File Recovery (WinFR) is a command-line utility developed by Microsoft that helps recover permanently deleted files from local drives. It only works on Windows 10 and 11. You can use Windows File Recovery command to recover deleted files.
Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery on your computer from Microsoft official channel.
Step 2. Type "Windows File Recovery" in the Start menu and right click to choose "Run as administrator".
Step 3. Enter the command "Winfr H: D: /extensive" and hit "Enter". Replace the drive letters "H" and "D" with your actual drive letters.
Step 4. Press "Y" to continue the process. When the process is finished, you can press "Y" to check the recovered files in the destination folder.
If you prefer using GUI data recovery tools, then MyRecover is exactly what you need. It covers a wide range of data recovery scenarios and features a user-friendly GUI, allowing even novice users to recover data by simply clicking icons. Why over a million users choose MyRecover:
✅No Command Line Needed – Simple GUI (graphical interface) for easy file recovery.
✅1000+ File Formats Supported – recover deleted RAR, PNG, MP4, MP3, TXT, ZIP, MSG, etc on PC.
✅Wide Device Support- Recover files from all types of devices like SSD, HDD, USB flash drive, SD card, cameras and more.
✅OS Compatibility – Work not only on Windows 11 /10, but also on Windows 8.1/ 8/ 7 and all Servers.
✅Safe and Read-Only – Scanning ensures no data is overwritten during the recovery process.
4 steps to recover deleted files on windows
Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer and avoid installing it on the drive with lost files.
Step 2. Select the drive where the deleted files were stored to scan for lost files and click "Scan".
Step 3. Choose the files you want to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".
Step 4. Select a safe location to save the recovered files.
Once the process is completed, the message "Files have been recovered successfully" will pop out. You can access and check the recovered files by clicking the destination folder.
While OneDrive provides a solid set of recovery features including the Recycle Bin, Second-stage Recycle Bin, and full drive restoration. There limitations should not be overlooked—these options rely on timely action and cloud sync being active. If those fail or the files were never synced, turning to a professional data recovery tool becomes essential.
This is where MyRecover can be a valuable solution. Designed for both beginners and advanced users, MyRecover scans your local drives for lost, deleted files—even if they’ve bypassed OneDrive entirely. The Professional edition and Technician edition can recover files from unbootable computer or drive, they also offer a preview feature before completion of the recovery process.
