Answered: Where to Find Deleted OneDrive Files Not in Recycle Bin

Where do deleted OneDrive files go if not in Recycle Bin?

“I accidentally deleted some OneDrive files in the web interface and I need to recover them. But I can’t find them in the Recycle Bin. Why deleted OneDrive files not in Recycle Bin and where do they go?”

Why deleted OneDrive files not in Recycle Bin?

Normally, if you delete a file from OneDrive in Windows Explorer, you are able to find it in your computer’s Recycle Bin and recover the deleted OneDrive file by right-clicking it and choosing Restore.

But if you delete a file from OneDrive in the OneDrive web interface, you actually delete the online-only file, which is a backup of the local file. The original local file still remains on your computer, that’s why you can’t find it in your computer’s Recycle Bin.   

How to recover deleted OneDrive files not in Recycle Bin [4 options]

If you deleted OneDrive files in the web interface, here are 4 options on how to recover deleted OneDrive files not in Recycle Bin.

Option 1. Restore deleted files from OneDrive Recycle Bin

Normally, you can go to the online OneDrive Recycle Bin if the OneDrive deleted files not in Recycle Bin. Here’s the way.

Step 1. Navigate to the OneDrive and log into your OneDrive account.

 Step 2. Click Recycle Bin on the left panel > Choose the files or folders you want to recover > Click Restore in the menu bar. This will restore the files or folders to their original location.

If your OneDrive files have been deleted for more than 30 days or 93 days, they will be moved from the OneDrive Recycle Bin to the Second-stage recycle bin. Here’s the way to find them.

Step 1. Scroll down the Recycle Bin page > Click Second-stage recycle bin at the bottom.

Step 2. Select the files or folders you need to recover > Click Restore located at the top of the screen. All selected files will be restored to their original locations.

Option 2. Restore OneDrive to a previous time and get the deleted files

OneDrive allows you to restore it to a previous time and get the already deleted files or folders back if you can’t find them in the Recycle Bin.

Step 1. Log in to your OneDrive account. Tap Settings > Select Restore your OneDrive option from the drop-down menu.

Step 2. On the next page, click the box under Select a date and choose a data before you have deleted the files or folders > Click Restore after finding the files or folders you want to restore.

Option 3. Get deleted files in OneDrive from local files

As stated before, deleting files in the OneDrive web interface won’t do any effect on the original local files on your computer. So you can get the deleted files from your local computer even if they have been deleted in OneDrive.

Step 1. Click the OneDrive icon in the System Tray, from the More menu, clicking Settings.

Step 2. Tap the Account tab > click the Choose folders button.

Step 3. Make a note of the location of the OneDrive folder in the lower left corner. Then go to File Explorer > navigate to your OneDrive folder.

Option 4. Recover deleted folders from OneDrive with a professional tool

If you can't find the files in neither the OneDrive Recycle Bin nor the local folders, you need the help of a professional data recovery freeware, MyRecover. It has the following benefits:

Simple. It takes only three easy steps to recover lost or deleted folders from Windows.

Overall. It can recover data from formatted drives, corrupted partitions, system crashes, virus attacks, and other Windows data loss scenarios.

Efficient. It quickly recovers deleted folders at a high success rate.

Compatible. It supports NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems recovery on  Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server.

Let’s see how to restore deleted file not in Recycle Bin OneDrive with MyRecover. Before starting, download, install and launch MyRecover on your computer.

Step 1. Hover the mouse over the hard drive used to have the files you want to get back. Click Scan.

Step 2. Then the scanning process will start automatically. You don’t need to wait for the process to complete if you find the files you want to recover. You can also type in the file name on the upper right search box to find the file you need quickly.

Step 3. Click Recycle Bin in the left panel, and select the deleted files you want. Click Recover xx files.

Closing words

This post primarily introduces why deleted OneDrive files not in Recycle Bin and where to recover them. You can go to the OneDrive Recycle Bin, restore your OneDrive to a previous version, find the folders on your local computer, or use the free yet professional data recovery tool MyRecover.