Microsoft deleted 50 years of nonprofit archive 65 days early — no recovery offered

Antony 0 Points de réputation
2026-08-17T18:08:51.4433333+00:00

We manage a nonprofit organization that relied on Microsoft 365 Business Premium grant.

WHAT HAPPENED:

  • June 1, 2026: Microsoft email guaranteed "your data will remain available until August 20, 2026"
  • June 16, 2026: Microsoft deleted ALL SharePoint data (no individual warning sent)
  • August 10, 2026: We discovered everything was gone
  • August 18: Microsoft confirmed "no backups exist, no recovery possible"

DATA LOST:

  • 50 years of musical recordings, choreographic documentation, musical scores
  • 15 years of administrative and accounting records
  • Irreplaceable cultural heritage for our organization

MICROSOFT'S RESPONSE:

Refused to restore. Refused to explain why deletion happened 65 days before the promised date.

This is not isolated. Other nonprofits report similar experiences: sudden data loss with no notification.

We need Microsoft to explain this process and offer recovery for affected organizations.

Microsoft 365 et Office | SharePoint | Pour le business | Autres

1 réponse

Trier par : Le plus utile
Le plus utile Les plus récents Les plus anciens
  1. Jay1 Tran 1,460 Points de réputation Conseiller indépendant
    2026-08-17T18:51:56.9633333+00:00

    I noticed that your post is in English, while your preferred language appears to be French. If you would like to continue in a different language, please let me know. 

    Hi Antony,

    Thank you for reaching out.

    I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your organization’s SharePoint data, especially given the historical and cultural importance of the materials involved.

    Just to gently clarify before we go any further, this is a user‑to‑user support forum. I don’t have the ability to access to your Microsoft 365 tenant, Microsoft’s internal systems, backups, or data-recovery tools because this is a user-to-user support forum. 

    In this situation, I recommend creating a ticket with Microsoft Support via the Microsoft 365 admin center. A technical support engineer can then initiate a remote session, review backend settings, and run diagnostics. If needed, they can escalate the case to specialized engineering teams who are well-equipped to perform advanced troubleshooting and provide targeted solutions.     

    When submitting the ticket, please include:

    • The date on which the data became unavailable
    • A copy of Microsoft’s communication stating that the data would remain available until August 20, 2026
    • Any existing support case numbers or correspondence
    • A request for a formal investigation into why the deletion reportedly occurred before the stated date

    For guidance on how to request support in the admin center, please refer to: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin.      

    Thank you again for your time and cooperation during this process. Wishing you a smooth resolution and a wonderful day ahead. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".   

    Note: Please follow the steps in the forum document to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    Cette réponse a-t-elle été utile ?

Votre réponse

Les réponses peuvent être marquées comme « Acceptées » par l’auteur de la question et « Recommandées » par les modérateurs, ce qui aide les utilisateurs à savoir que la réponse a résolu le problème de l’auteur.