School Email Recovery Help

Only the school’s Microsoft 365 administrator can check this account, and because it was deleted about a year ago, the account itself is outside Microsoft’s normal 30-day restoration window.

A deleted Microsoft Entra work or school account remains restorable for 30 days. After permanent deletion begins, neither the administrator nor Microsoft Support can restore that original account.^1^ Knowing the old password does not change the deletion status.

Ask the school to perform these checks

Since the previous recovery request was rejected, contact the school’s IT support team or administration directly rather than submitting another personal Microsoft-account recovery request. Work and school accounts are controlled by the organization that issued them.^2^

Ask the administrator to confirm in writing:

1. Whether the user still exists
   • Microsoft Entra admin center → Entra ID → Users.
   • Also check Users → Deleted users.
   • If it is not present in either location after approximately one year, the original user object is no longer restorable through the standard process.
2. The exact deletion date
   • This determines whether any standard recovery period remained. Exchange Online normally retains a deleted mailbox for 30 days; afterward, it cannot be recovered through standard mailbox restoration.^3^
3. Whether the mailbox became an inactive mailbox
   • Ask the school’s compliance administrator to check whether a Microsoft 365 retention policy, retention label, Litigation Hold, or eDiscovery hold was applied before the account was deleted.
   • If a hold existed beforehand, the mailbox may have been preserved as an inactive mailbox, even though the user account itself can no longer be restored.^4^
   • If found, the administrator—not the former account owner—would need to recover or export the permitted mailbox content.

A concise request to send is:

Please ask the Microsoft 365 User/Global Administrator to confirm whether my former account appears under Entra ID → Users or Deleted users, and confirm its deletion date. If it has been permanently deleted, please ask the Compliance or Exchange administrator whether its mailbox was preserved as an inactive mailbox by a retention policy or hold applied before deletion.

Likely outcome

• Account deleted less than 30 days ago: an authorized administrator may restore it.
• Account deleted about a year ago: the original account is normally permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
• Pre-existing retention or compliance hold: the account still cannot be reopened after the restoration window, but retained email might remain available to the school’s authorized administrators.
• No hold or retention preservation: the mailbox data is normally permanently removed after the applicable deletion lifecycle.

Do not post the full school email address, password, student number, or identity documents publicly. Provide verification information only through the school’s official support channel.

References

1. Restore or remove a recently deleted user
2. How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? | Microsoft Support
3. Delete or restore user mailboxes in Exchange Online
4. Learn about inactive mailboxes