Can Microsoft Sways be recovered after the deleted-user reassignment period has expired?

Hi @Preet Trivedi

The documented administrator recovery process allows a Global Administrator to reassign Sways for 30 days after the original owner’s account has been permanently deleted from Microsoft Entra ID. This is separate from the initial 30-day period during which the deleted user account may still be restored. Once the Sway reassignment period has passed, there is no documented administrator method to recover or transfer the Sways. 

For more details, please refer to: Reassign Sways from a deleted user account - Admin Help 

Regarding your questions: 

1/ Is there any way to recover the Sways after the 30-day recovery/reassignment period has passed? 

There is no publicly documented or guaranteed recovery procedure after this period expires. The standard PowerShell reassignment process may no longer work if the Sways have already been removed from the service.  

2/ Since we still have the original Sway URLs and Lookup IDs, can Microsoft determine whether the Sway objects/content still exist on the backend? 

The Lookup IDs are used in the documented ownership-transfer process, so you should retain them. However, having the URLs and Lookup IDs does not confirm that the associated Sway objects or content are still stored on the backend. Only Microsoft Support may be able to check whether a service-side assessment is possible. 

3/ Is there any exceptional or service-side recovery process that can be performed by Microsoft Support or the Sway engineering team? 

Microsoft does not document an exceptional recovery process after the retention period. Support may be able to investigate or route the case to the appropriate service team, but this should not be considered confirmation that the Sways can be recovered. 

4/ If ownership of the original Sways cannot be restored, is there any possibility of recovering the underlying Sway content? 

There is no separately documented method for extracting the content after the Sway object has been permanently removed. If there are no exports, backups, duplicates, or collaborators with access, recovery would depend entirely on whether Microsoft determines that any service-side data remains available. 

5/ If this cannot be handled through the standard Tenant/Global Administrator recovery process, what would be the appropriate Microsoft Support channel/team to contact for a backend recovery assessment? 

If the Sways cannot be recovered through the standard Tenant or Global Administrator process, a Microsoft 365 administrator can open a support request through Microsoft 365 admin center > Help & support > Contact Support.

There is no separate public support channel specifically for Sway backend recovery. In the request, provide the affected Sway URLs and Lookup IDs, the former owner’s account information, and the intended new owner.

Ask Microsoft Support to assess whether the Sway objects are still retained and, if appropriate, escalate the request to the team responsible for the Sway service. Please note that escalation allows the issue to be investigated but does not guarantee that the Sways or their underlying content can be recovered 

• The administrator can contact Microsoft Support through the Microsoft 365 admin center following the steps here Get support in the Microsoft 365 admin center 
• If you're not sure who your organization's Microsoft 365 admin is, use the following guidance: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? 
• If your Microsoft 365 subscription is managed through a Microsoft partner or reseller, your administrator can also contact them for assistance. 

Note: If you're an end user, you should coordinate with your Office 365 global administrator to perform these steps. 

I understand this may not be the outcome you were hoping for, and I am sorry that there is no further recovery method I can recommend from the community side. I hope Microsoft Support can review the case and provide a definitive answer on whether any additional recovery options are available.