You have lost 6,000 photos on my one drive & I've never missed a payment

Joanne Bechtel 0 Reputation points
2026-09-08T20:27:32.1366667+00:00

6,000 pictures are just gone from my account. I've been paying storage for years!!!!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Other
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  1. Xavier-D 12,515 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-09T01:45:24.4766667+00:00

    Hello Joanne Bechtel

    Since the existing AI answer covers the primary recovery checks. Here are a few additional details I would like to add for more insight on this issue:

    1. If the disappearance occurred within the last 30 days and you have Microsoft 365, open OneDrive on the web and go to Settings > Options > Restore your OneDrive. Use the activity chart and activity feed to locate when the large deletion or move occurred, then select a point immediately before it.
    2. Please note that OneDrive restore does not restore album organization only the underlying photos. Files permanently removed from the OneDrive Recycle Bin cannot be recovered.
    3. If the photos originated on an iPhone with optimized iCloud storage enabled, check iCloud Photos. The full-resolution originals may have remained in iCloud and never uploaded to OneDrive.
    4. If these photos were in a folder shared by another person, ask the owner whether the folder was deleted or sharing was removed.

    AI also mentions contacting support as a last resort but fail to add detail steps to reach out to them, here how to do it:

    Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.  

    1. Open a website link - Contact - Microsoft Support 
    2. In the box below "We're here to help", type Microsoft 365, click "Get Help", and then click "Contact Support" below. 
    3. In this section, you will need to sign in to your Microsoft account. 
    4. Select "Microsoft 365 and Office" under Products & Services, select "Technical Support" as the category, and click to confirm 
    5. You can select " Chat with a support agent in your web browser " to access the chat window. 

    I hope you can get the support you need, have a nice day.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-08T20:27:48.4066667+00:00

    Try these checks in order:

    1. Sign in to the OneDrive website and use Search everything at the top of the page. Search by more than filename: descriptions, tags, dates, or places such as "April" or "Paris".
    2. Confirm the files are not in Personal Vault. Personal Vault items do not appear in normal search results. In the recycle bin, select Show Personal Vault items if that option appears.
    3. Make sure the correct Microsoft account is being used. If multiple Microsoft accounts exist, the photos may be in another OneDrive.
    4. Check local storage on the device:
      • Use File Explorer or Finder to search the computer.
      • Check the computer Recycle Bin or Trash.
      • On mobile, use the Files app to search device storage.
    5. If using OneDrive for iOS and files are not appearing in the app, open the app and go to Profile > Settings > Account > Reset.
    6. If a large change happened recently and there is a Microsoft 365 subscription, use Restore your OneDrive to roll the entire OneDrive back to a previous point in time within the last 30 days. Be aware that files or folders created after the restore point are moved to the OneDrive Recycle Bin.
    7. Check whether the account is over storage. If OneDrive storage is full, files become read-only and new uploads, edits, and sync stop. Storage usage can include:
      • OneDrive files and photos
      • Items in the Recycle Bin
      • Outlook.com attachments and inline images
      • Microsoft Teams message attachments and recordings
      • Loop meeting notes and Ideas files
      • Images in Designer projects
    8. If storage is full, open Manage your OneDrive storage to see what is taking space and empty the Recycle Bin if needed.

    If the photos are not found in search, Personal Vault, local storage, or the OneDrive Recycle Bin, they usually cannot be retrieved. For personal accounts, support agents cannot access files and cannot provide more help than the listed recovery guidance. Technical support can still be contacted through Contact Microsoft Support.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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