How to recover files on OneDrive

It's now possible to recover corrupted or malware-infected files as well as revert changes on your OneDrive for Business account — Here's how to do it.

OneDrive Files Restore
OneDrive Files Restore

OneDrive for Business includes a new feature going with the “Files Restore” name, and it allows you to quickly restore files from any point over the past 30 days. Also, the file recovery feature works for files that have been deleted, but they’re still in the Recycle bin.

According to Microsoft, “Files Restore” will not only be useful to revert changes to a file, but it’ll come in handy when files become compromised as a result of malware infection, including Ransomware, or corruption.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to use Files Restore using OneDrive for Business to recover files from any point in time in the past 30 days.

How to use Files Restore on OneDrive for Business

To revert changes, or recover corrupted or malware-infected files on OneDrive, you’ll need to use the web experience, as this option isn’t available for the client for Windows 10.

  1. Sign-in to your OneDrive for Business account.

  2. Click on Files from the left pane.

  3. Click the Settings button on the top-right corner.

  4. Click the Restore OneDrive button.

    OneDrive for Business settings
    OneDrive for Business settings
  5. The histogram will show all the file activities over the last 30 days, use the slider to rewind and pick a time.

  6. Select the file or files that you want to restore.

    Files Restore settings in OneDrive
    Files Restore settings in OneDrive
  7. Click the Restore button.

  8. Click the Restore button again to confirm the files that you’re restoring, which will revert changes made to those files.

Once you’ve completed the steps, you can start using those recovered files again.

The new feature is now available for OneDrive for Business users, but it could take some time to reach every customer. Unfortunately, this is not a feature yet available for regular OneDrive customers.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.