How to Recover Deleted Photos from OneDrive: 5 Essential Ways

OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) is a cloud backup service operated by Microsoft as part of its Web version of Office. It keeps backed up files up to date even across a wide range of devices and allows its users to seamlessly back up important files to Microsoft's servers and access them from any device.

However, it can become a problem if this backup is deleted, especially by accident or for other reasons, such as human error, malware/virus attack, backup conflicts, etc. Fortunately, you can get back the files if you delete or lose some important data like photos, videos, documents, etc. The measures and steps provided here are going to help you learn how to recover deleted photos from OneDrive.

Can deleted OneDrive files be recovered?

When you find your OneDrive pictures are lost or permanently deleted, can they be recovered? Yes, it is possible to recover files that have been lost or permanently deleted from Onedrive. 

Normally, after files are deleted from OneDrive in Windows Explorer, the deleted files are moved to the Recycle Bin accessible in Windows and the OneDrive Recycle Bin accessible in the OneDrive web interface.

So you can get them back within 30 days of your OneDrive Recycle Bin deletion, or as long as the Recycle Bin isn't emptied, you can go to the Windows Recycle Bin to retrieve them. Besides, for more reliable results, you can use a professional recovery tool to get back any permanently deleted files from Onedrive.

Note: If you delete files and folders in the OneDrive web interface, the deleted items are not moved to the Recycle Bin in Windows.

How to recover deleted photos from OneDrive in 5 ways

There are 5 effective ways on how to retrieve photos from OneDrive. Among them, the first two methods are mainly performed on the OneDrive web interface, and the last three methods are performed on your PC.

Way 1. Recover deleted photos from OneDrive Recycle Bin/Second-stage recycle bin

As we said before, when you delete files from OneDrive storage, you still have a chance to recover your files. Just like the Windows operating system, OneDrive has its own Recycle Bin, which you can use to retrieve all recently deleted photos quickly and easily.

Steps on how to recover deleted photos from OneDrive Recycle Bin:

Step 1. Go to: https://onedrive.live.com/ > Log in to your OneDrive account.

Step 2. Select the Recycle Bin option from the left panel > Choose the photo you want to recover.

Step 3. Click the Restore button in the menu bar. This will restore the files to their original location.

If you cannot find deleted files in the Recycle Bin, check the Second-stage recycle bin. Deleted items are moved from the Recycle Bin to the Second-stage recycle bin 30 days after deletion. These files will remain here for an additional 30 days.

Note: Any items deleted from OneDrive are permanently lost after a certain amount of time (up to 90 days).

1. Open the Recycle Bin in the OneDrive web interface > scroll down the page > click the Second-stage recycle bin link at the bottom of the page.

2. After that, select the files you need to recover > click on the Restore button located at the top of the screen. All selected files will be restored to their original locations.

Way 2. Restore OneDrive to a previous time

To protect its users from ransomware, Microsoft has implemented a useful data protection feature that allows you to restore all OneDrive files to a previous time.

Step 1. Go to: https://onedrive.live.com/ > log in to your OneDrive account.

Step 2. Tap  Settings > select Restore your OneDrive option from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. On the next page, click Select a date to choose the desired time period > tap Restore.

Way 3. Restore OneDrive deleted files from your computer's Recycle Bin

OneDrive's Recycle Bin has a time limit. But the Recycle Bin on your computer can hold items indefinitely, as long as you don't manually clear the Recycle Bin.

So if you delete photos from OneDrive in Windows Explorer, you can check your computer's Recycle Bin to undelete OneDrive files.

Steps: Open the Recycle Bin in Windows (There’s a shortcut on Desktop by default) > find the deleted photo you want to recover > right-click on it > click Restore in the context menu.

Now that the file has been restored to its original location, you can see the restored file in the OneDrive folder in Windows Explorer and in the OneDrive web interface.

Way 4. Retrieve pictures from OneDrive local folder

Typically, OneDrive creates a special folder (also called OneDrive) on your computer, which it then automatically monitors to back up all files stored in it in real time. Your files should always be stored in at least two places: local folders and cloud storage. 

So, you can try recovering deleted files from OneDrive local folder on your computer. Follow the steps to find the location of the OneDrive folder on your computer to recover files that are not in the cloud:

Step 1. Right-click the OneDrive folder > select the Settings option.

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.

If your files don't exist, they may have been permanently deleted. In this case, you can refer to the method below.

Way 5. Recover permanently deleted photos from OneDrive with professional tool

If you can't find your deleted photos using the methods above, or if your Recycle Bin has been cleared, it's likely that your photos have been permanently deleted. Also, while Onedrive Online will completely delete files from the Recycle Bin after 30 days, and your local Recycle Bin will do the same once it is full.

How to recover permanently deleted photos from OneDrive? Actually, in this situation, you can try to use data recovery software to retrieve your photos. Here, MyRecover  is recommended.

It helps in recovering various file types like photos and videos, and it works no matter what caused your data loss. In other words, it can help you restore permanently deleted photos from OneDrive easily after clearing the Recycle Bin.

MyRecover has many shining points:

✔ Recover photos of any file format like JPG/JPEG/JPE, PNG, TIF/TIFF, HEVC/HEIC/HEIF, GIF, PSD, SVG, ARW, X3F, etc.
✔ Support data recovery from sudden deletion, formatting, hard disk damage, virus attack, system crash, etc. under different scenarios.
✔ Ensure files recovery from any device such as SD cards (Mini, Micro, SDHC, SDXC), USB flash drives, external hard drives(HDD/SSD).
✔ Offer a clear and user-friendly graphical user interface.
✔ Perfectly compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server.

Click the download icon to perform OneDrive photo recovery.

Step 1. In MyRecover > hover the mouse over the OneDrive partition > click Scan.

Step 2. It will automatically check the drive for all lost files, you can search your photo in the search box in the upper right corner. And you can also find the lost or delete files based on their Type, Data Modified and Size.

Step 3. When you find the photo you want to recover > click Recover x Files > choose a storage location to save it.

Conclusion

This article describes 5 feasible solutions on how to recover deleted photos from OneDrive. You can get your photos back by going to the Recycle Bin in OneDrive or Windows, restoring to a previous, or a local folder. To save your time and effort, we highly recommend the last free file recovery tool-- MyRecover.

Finally, while Microsoft has done a lot to keep OneDrive files safe, for an extra protection of your OneDrive files, you can sync OneDrive to an external storage device  from time to time and keep them in a safe place.