Microsoft 365 / Share OneDrive files and recover deleted or overwritten files

To share a work or school OneDrive file, select Share and specify who can access it; to recover a deleted file, start with Recycle bin on the OneDrive website. Prefer links for specific people when only named recipients need access. Recovery options depend on the file’s state, retention period and organization policies.

This guide covers OneDrive for work or school accounts. If both personal OneDrive and work OneDrive exist on the same PC, first check the browser login account and the actual owner of the file. Deleting a file from a synced OneDrive folder can also delete its cloud copy. Synchronization therefore does not provide an independent backup.

Choose the sharing scope and permissions

• Recipient: Decide whether it is needed for a specific person, someone inside the organization, an existing permission holder, or anyone with the link.
• Permission: Decide whether to allow view only or to allow editing as well. Folder editing permissions may include the ability to move or delete files inside.
• Duration: If external sharing is temporary, plan for link expiration or access revocation.
• Storage location: If the file needs to be co-owned by the department, a SharePoint team site may be more suitable than an individual OneDrive.

According to Microsoft's OneDrive File Sharing Guide, link options and edit/download permissions vary depending on account type and organization settings. If the menu is grayed out, it may be due to administrator policies rather than user error.

Sharing a file with specific people

1. On your work OneDrive website, select the file or folder and click Share.
2. In link settings, select Specific people and set view or edit permissions. Check your organization’s policy to see if external people can be added.

3. After specifying recipients and sending the link, double-check Manage access to see who can access it. Remove links that are no longer needed.

Verify shared access and revoke it when needed

For example, if a partner representative only needs to review a single proposal, select Specific people with view permission for that file. Granting edit permissions to the entire folder may allow access to unnecessary files, including the ability to modify or delete them. Review the sensitive content within files and the scope of the folders before sharing.

Check if the recipient can open the link at the invited address and read the content, and if editing is not needed, ensure that editing is not allowed. Do not assume that giving view permissions automatically blocks downloads. Check if download restrictions, expiration, etc., are actually provided according to file type, link type, and organizational policy.

Review links in Manage access and direct access separately. To terminate a specific person's access, remove unnecessary links or revoke direct permissions, and also check if they might access through other links or groups. The People with existing access link does not change existing permissions. Copies already downloaded will not be reclaimed by stopping sharing.

Choose a recovery method for a missing or damaged file

If you lost a file shared by someone else, simply looking in your own Recycle Bin might not solve it. You need to check the original owner's OneDrive or the SharePoint storage where the actual file exists. If a massive loss like ransomware is suspected, control the cause of continuous changes before restoring and determine the recovery point with the administrator.

Restore deleted files

1. First, search to confirm whether the file was actually deleted, and check whether it was moved to an incorrect location or the sync status has changed.
2. On the OneDrive website, select the file in Recycle bin and click Restore.

3. Verify whether the file has returned to its original location and whether its content and permissions are as expected. If it is a file shared by someone else, you may need to check the original owner's OneDrive.

Microsoft's OneDrive Deleted File Recovery Guide explains the recycle bin recovery period and recovery limits for work or school accounts. For widespread corruption or unwanted changes, Restore your OneDrive can undo file and folder activity from the preceding 30 days when the required Microsoft 365 subscription is available. For a work or school account, open Settings, then Restore OneDrive, and review the activity list and restore point before confirming. This can also undo healthy changes and move newly created items to the recycle bin; permanently deleted items are not recovered by this feature. Do not delay recovery, as permanently deleted files or files past the organization's retention period may not be recoverable.

Deleted files in work or school accounts generally have a 93-day recovery period, although this may vary depending on admin settings. Do not confuse this with the default 30 days for personal accounts. Files that are permanently deleted from the recycle bin cannot be restored through normal recycle bin recovery. When attempting to recover files, do not empty the recycle bin, and select only the necessary items to restore.

For example, if you restored a quote file from the Documents folder, do not just check the file name; also verify the original folder, edits, and sharing permissions. If a file with the same name already exists or the original folder has been deleted, read the displayed guidance and resolve any conflicts. Online-only files not found in the Windows Recycle Bin may still be available in the web recycle bin, so do not give up just because the local recycle bin is empty.

Restore an overwritten file to a previous version

1. In OneDrive on the web, select the current file and open Version History from More options or right-click.
2. Check the time and content of the version before the problem occurred. Check the content as well as the modification time. Preserve any recent changes you still need separately before restoring.
3. For the version you want, open its More options menu and select Restore. The selected version becomes current; the previously current version remains in version history.
4. Reopen the file to check the necessary content and shared access. If there are errors, compare it with other points in the version history and inform concurrent editors of the results.

The use and retention of version history is influenced by organizational settings. If there is no version or the necessary point has disappeared, do not repeat the same operation, and contact the administrator. For the detailed version-history steps, including the File Explorer option, see Microsoft's previous version restoration procedure. Do not revert the entire OneDrive because of an error in a single file.

When an administrator needs to help

If the external sharing options are not visible, check the OneDrive sharing settings in the SharePoint admin center and any user-specific restrictions. If the OneDrive or account of a departed employee has already been deleted, the process differs from restoring from the regular recycle bin, so you should first check the retention status according to the Deleted OneDrive Restoration Instructions. The retention period after deleting a user account and the file recycle bin period are different life cycles. Provide the administrator with the owner account, the actual file or site address, the estimated deletion time, the last normal state, and any methods already attempted. After recovery, decide whether to keep the work materials in an individual employee’s work OneDrive or transfer them to SharePoint managed by the department.