How to recover missing, deleted or corrupted items in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business

Problem

In SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, you experience one or more of the following problem scenarios:

• Scenario 1: You're missing a file, folder, or item from a list or library.

• Scenario 2: You've deleted a file or a folder and want to recover it.

• Scenario 3: Your library contains corrupted versions of files that you cannot open, and you want to recover working versions of the files.

Solution

Use one of the following methods, as appropriate for your situation.

Solution for scenarios 1 and 2

1. Use the Office 365 Protection Center or the audit log report to check whether the item was moved or deleted.

   • For more information about the Office 365 Protection Center.

   • For more information about the SharePoint audit logs.

   • To view an audit log report for a site collection, follow these steps:

     1. Browse to the Site Settings page for the OneDrive for Business Library or site collection.

     2. If you aren't at the root of your site collection, click Go to top level site settings under Site Collection Administration.

     3. In the Site Collection Administration section, select Audit log reports.

     4. On the View Auditing Reports page, select the report that you want, such as Deletion.

     5. Type or browse to the library where you want to save the report, and then click OK.

     6. On the Operation Completed Successfully page, click on the click here link to view this report.

2. Check whether the item is in the first-level or second-stage recycle bin for the affected site collection.

3. If you don't find the item in the Recycle Bin, go on to step 3.If you're using the OneDrive for Business sync client, check whether there's a copy of the file or folder on your local computer. 

4. If steps 1–3 don't resolve the issue, contact support. When you open a request, provide as much additional information as possible to describe your issue.  Include the following information in your request:

   • The full URL for the affected site collection or library.

     For example: https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/<SiteCollectionName>/Shared%20Documents

   • The names of several of the affected items. For files, include the file name extension.

   • The date and time when you think the item was last in an uncorrupted state.

Solution for scenario 3

Restore an earlier version of the affected file from an existing file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Office 365 portal.

2. Browse to the library that contains the affected file.

3. Click the ellipses (...) next to the file, and then click Version History. 
   
   NOTE: If you're using the classic OneDrive for Business view, click the ellipses next to the file, click the ellipses in the preview window, and then click Version History.

4. Click the drop-down arrow for the date of the earlier version, click Restore, and then click OK.
   
   If this doesn't fix the problem, go to the next step.

5. If you're using the OneDrive for Business sync client, check whether there's a working copy of the file or folder on your local computer. For more information,

6. If steps 1–5 don't resolve the issue, contact support. When you open a request, provide as much additional information as possible to describe your issue. Include the following information in your request:

   • The full URL for the affected site collection or library.

     For example: https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/<SiteCollectionName>/Shared%20Documents

   • The names of several of the affected items. For files, include the file name extension.

   • The date and time when you think the file was last in a healthy state.