Lost all files and photos in onedrive

Angelina Kam 0 Reputation points
2026-10-10T20:40:40.1166667+00:00

3 weeks ago, I noticed years worth of photos had been deleted from my Onedrive. I contacted support immediately but they didn't get back to me until much later. I got a call back and they took access of my computer, but nothing came of it. Even all the photos I uploaded recently would be deleted the next day. Only a portion of my photos would upload successfully. (I turned on overnight backup and watched the number of photos remaining go down, but when it said backup complete, only a portion of them showed up in the onedrive app) At this point, photos from the past 3 months were saved. But recently, all of them have been deleted, leaving only 30 so photos in my OneDrive, including the ones I uploaded a week ago. I have changed my password and no one else has access to my account. The recycle bin shows nothing, and today, it has extended to my files, with all my files getting deleted as well. This is not a man-made issue because no one else has access to my account, and I am losing trust in Onedrive as a whole since everything I have ever uploaded is getting deleted, and no solution being provided. In a most recent callback yesterday, no solution was provided as well. If years of photos and files can be deleted and non-recoverable, how can any user trust Onedrive again??? Even if the years worth of photos being deleted was a one time thing, but it is still continoulsy happening and getting worse. I have gone through all the recovery options they mentioned, and now, it shows I am only using 0.4 gb of Onedrive storage because all of my millions of files and images have been deleted.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneDrive | For home | Other
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  1. Francisco Montilla 31,185 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-12T05:55:17.4466667+00:00

    Hello,

    Just a quick heads up before we dive in, this is a public community forum staffed by regular users, we are not Microsoft employees or official support.

    Since it keeps happening even with newly uploaded photos and your password is changed, I have a strong feeling another device connected to your account is silently syncing these deletions.

    Do you have any other devices like an old phone, an iPad, or a second laptop that are still logged into this specific OneDrive account? A second device with a broken sync or aggressive local storage management could continuously tell the server to delete things, which then propagates to your computer and clears out your cloud.

    Also, as a quick test, if you upload a single test picture directly through the OneDrive website using a web browser instead of using the sync app, does that photo still disappear the next day?

    Let me know what other devices might have access so we can figure out exactly where these delete commands are coming from.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-10T20:40:59.37+00:00

    For a personal OneDrive account, the supported recovery paths are limited to these checks:

    1. Confirm the correct account is being used on the OneDrive website.
      • Files can appear missing if they were saved under another Microsoft account.
      • Sign out and sign in again if there is any chance another account was used.
    2. Search on the OneDrive website first.
      • Go to the OneDrive website and use Search everything.
      • Search by filename, partial names, descriptions, tags, dates, and places.
    3. Check the OneDrive Recycle Bin.
      • On the web, open Recycle bin and restore any files or folders found there.
      • For personal accounts, deleted files or folders can be restored within the last 30 days.
      • Files permanently deleted from the OneDrive Recycle Bin cannot be recovered.
    4. Check the local device.
      • Use File Explorer or Finder to search the computer.
      • Check the computer’s Recycle Bin or Trash.
      • On Windows, restoring from Recycle Bin returns the item to its original folder.
    5. If Microsoft 365 is available on the account, use Restore your OneDrive.
      • This can roll back all file and folder actions from the last 30 days.
      • Important: files or folders created after the restore point are moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin.
    6. If using OneDrive on iOS and files are not appearing, reset the app.
      • In the app, go to Profile > Settings > Account > Reset.

    Based on the available support guidance, if the files are not found by search, not in the OneDrive Recycle Bin, not on the local device, and the 30-day restore window does not contain the missing data, there is no additional supported recovery path for a personal account. Support agents are not allowed to access files and cannot provide more help than the published recovery guidance.

    Because the deletions are continuing, also review account activity and suspicious sign-in notifications. OneDrive monitors and blocks suspicious sign-in attempts and can notify about unusual activity such as sign-ins from a new device or location.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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