You lost over 100,000+ of my pictures that were on my easystore drive and now I can't use them

Stop writing to, formatting, repairing, or changing the Easystore D: drive until the photos are located or recovered, because new data can overwrite deleted files and reduce the chance of recovery.^1^

Buying 1 TB of Microsoft 365 storage does not by itself prove that existing photos were moved from D: to OneDrive. OneDrive synchronizes configured folders, while its folder location and default save settings are configured separately.^2^

1. Check OneDrive without changing the D: drive

1. Sign in to the OneDrive website using the same Microsoft account that purchased the subscription.
2. Use Search everything to search for:
   • A known photo filename
   • Folder names
   • Dates, places, or descriptions
3. Open Photos, then My files, and inspect whether the missing folders are present.
4. Open Recycle bin. Select any missing folders or photos and choose Restore.
5. If you use more than one personal, work, or school Microsoft account, repeat the search under each account.^3^

If the files appear online but not on D:, first restore them to a different healthy drive. Do not make D: the destination until its condition is known.

2. If a large OneDrive change occurred after November 4

Because the account now has Microsoft 365 and the event was within the last 30 days, Restore your OneDrive can undo a mass deletion, overwrite, or other synchronized change:

1. On the OneDrive website, select Settings → Options → Restore your OneDrive.
2. Select Custom date and time.
3. Review the activity chart around November 4 and identify the earliest unwanted operation.
4. Review all selected activity before continuing, then select Restore.^4^

Important: This rolls back OneDrive activity, not an independent local D: drive. Files created after the selected restore point are moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin. Copy any important recent cloud files elsewhere first.

3. Determine whether the photos still exist locally

In File Explorer:

1. Select This PC.
2. Search for a known missing filename.
3. Also search by photo type, one at a time:
   • *.jpg
   • *.jpeg
   • *.png
   • *.heic
   • *.tif
4. For any result, right-click it and select Open file location.
5. Check the Windows Recycle Bin.

Windows supports searching the entire PC by filename or wildcard and opening a result’s actual location.^5^

Also inspect the icons beside remaining photos:

• A cloud icon indicates an online-only OneDrive item rather than a local copy.
• If such files open successfully, copy or download them to another drive before changing any synchronization settings.

Do not unlink, reset, reformat, or relocate OneDrive yet. Those actions do not recover genuinely deleted data and would complicate diagnosis.

4. If the photos are absent from OneDrive, Search, and both Recycle Bins

Treat this as local external-drive recovery:

1. Disconnect D: when it is not being examined.
2. Obtain another physical drive with enough free space. Recovery output must not go back to D:.
3. Install and open Windows File Recovery from the Microsoft Store.
4. Assuming D: is the affected Easystore and E: is a different recovery drive, run:

winfr D: E: /extensive /n *.jpg /n *.jpeg /n *.png /n *.heic /n *.tif

5. Enter Y when prompted. Recovered files will be placed in a time-stamped recovery folder on E:.

Windows File Recovery supports external and USB storage, requires different source and destination drives, and recommends Extensive mode for older deletion, formatting, corruption, FAT, or exFAT.^1^

If D: disconnects, makes unusual noises, reports RAW, requests formatting, or contains irreplaceable material, stop and use a professional recovery service instead. Do not accept a format prompt.

External-drive limitation

If the Easystore is a removable USB drive and it was selected as the actual OneDrive synchronization location, Microsoft documents that removable USB drives are not supported for that configuration; only non-ejectable external storage is supported.^6^ This does not mean ordinary photos cannot be stored on an Easystore—it only affects using that drive as OneDrive’s synchronization root.

Microsoft support agents cannot directly enter a personal OneDrive account or manipulate its files, so preserve the drive and perform the checks above before making configuration changes.^3^

References

1. Windows File Recovery | Microsoft Support
2. How to change the default save location in OneDrive for Windows | Microsoft Support
3. [Personal](https://support.microsoft.com/onedrive/find-lost-or-missing-files-in-onedrive)
4. Restore your OneDrive | Microsoft Support
5. [Windows 10](https://support.microsoft.com/windows/deployment/install-upgrade/find-lost-files-after-upgrading-windows#look-for-the-files-using-search)
6. Install OneDrive on an external drive | Microsoft Support