[URGENT HELP] Suspected Malicious Deletion of Files

[PREFACE] I HAVE AN ACTIVE SUPPORT TICKET OPEN WITH MICROSOFT WHY IS IT SO HARD TO ACTUALLY TALK TO THEM AS A PAYING CUSTOMER. I WAS PIPED THROUGH AI MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE I COULD OPEN A TICKET, THERE IS NO ONLINE CHAT AND THE SUPPORT NUMBER IMMEDIATELY HANGS UP ON YOU WHEN YOU REQUEST SUPPORT FOR M365 AND SENDS YOU ONLINE. PLEASE HELP ME RECOVER YEARS OF MY LIFE!

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has experienced malicious deletion of their OneDrive files, particularly where the recycle bin has apparently been emptied.

On 14 October 2026, a huge amount of data was deleted from my personal OneDrive account, including years of Bitwig music projects, electronics engineering designs, business documents, photographs and personal files.

I have substantial reason to believe this was deliberate and carried out by someone who had access to my Microsoft account, my ex girlfriend to be distinct.

The evidence I've discovered includes:

• Microsoft account sign-in activity that raises concerns about unauthorised access.
• A computer belonging to my ex-partner, identifiable by its device name, registered against my Microsoft account.
• My Microsoft account display name being changed to something personally offensive, containing a reference that strongly suggests her involvement.
• A mass deletion event on 14 October, confirmed by Microsoft's own OneDrive restoration logs.
• Numerous folders and files deleted within minutes, including my music projects and engineering work.
• They removed members of the 'M365 Family'
• They cancelled the subscription to M365 too.
• My name on the account had been renamed to something that only she would know about me and that I would find deeply hurtful and offensive.

I believe they gained access because I had admin rights on their laptop, as I set up her laptop for her in 2024. I believe I would have signed into M365 on this and she has somehow managed to get into that admin account by guessing the passcode. That is just my working hypothesis presently.

I was doing some admin on my account and I noticed that she was still on the 'family' so I rightfully removed her, I think this is what has sparked it as she may have interpreted that as malicious. But instead of just talking to me, she has done this.

I received a mass-deletion warning from Microsoft at approximately 21:46 that evening.

The recovery situation is particularly concerning.

My OneDrive recycle bin is empty, and the missing files are not in my Windows recycle bin.

I attempted to restore OneDrive to yesterday before the mass deletion and a date a week before the incident. The process reported 100% completion, but none of my missing data returned.

I downloaded the restoration report. It records 261 restoration events, of which 222 failed, repeatedly reporting:

"Failed — Item Not Found in Recycle Bin"

The report explicitly identifies the missing folders, including Bitwig Studio, KiCad and my electronics projects, as having been deleted on 14 October.

I have a paid Microsoft 365 Family subscription and an open Microsoft support case, but so far I've been unable to obtain meaningful assistance beyond automated troubleshooting.

What I desperately need to know is whether Microsoft has any way to recover files that have been deliberately deleted and subsequently removed from the OneDrive recycle bin.

Has anyone had experience with this? Has Microsoft ever successfully recovered permanently deleted OneDrive files through an engineering escalation or server-side recovery process?

I'm also preserving the account activity and deletion records because I may need to report this as unauthorised access and deliberate destruction of data. I have opened a police report and they are coming round today to discuss possible crimes against me and give me some advice on how I would like to proceed.

I'm absolutely devastated. These files represent years of creative and technical work, some of which cannot be recreated.

Any advice from people who've experienced something similar, or who understand Microsoft's recovery infrastructure, would be greatly appreciated.

I am absolutely devastated as I have lost nearly 10 years of work, engineering, R&D, music production, old course work from uni, literally everything is gone and I cannot restore it using the available tools.