OneDrive and SharePoint files have two features that allow us to be able to go back to old versions and restore lost data: Recycle Bins, and Version History.
Use the instructions under Recycle Bins below if you deleted a file or moved it off of your OneDrive or SharePoint storage. Use Version History if you accidentally changed or saved over a file and you need to get data that used to be in the file back.
OneDrive Recycle Bin
The recycle bin for OneDrive stores files from your personal OneDrive that were deleted.
To go find this recycle bin, follow the steps below:
- Navigate to https://portal.office.com, and sign in.
- Once you're signed into the office portal, select the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, and choose OneDrive.
- Once your OneDrive page appears, select Recycle Bin.
You'll now see a list of all the files that have been recently deleted from your OneDrive.
Use the checkboxes on the left side of the list to select the files you want, and then click the Restore button near the top of the page to restore that file to its original location.
Note: if you're having trouble finding that file's original location, you can use the search bar at the top of the page to find it.
SharePoint Recycle Bin
The recycle bin for SharePoint stores files from your departmental SharePoint shared storage that were deleted. To find this recycle bin:
- Navigate to https://portal.office.com, and sign in.
- Once you're signed into the office portal, select the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, and choose SharePoint.
- From the main SharePoint page, click the name of the Department, Group, or Team that the file was deleted from.
- On the main page for that team, department, or group, select Recycle Bin from the left-hand sidebar.
You'll now see a list of all the files that have been recently deleted from your SharePoint storage.
Use the checkboxes on the left side of the list to select the files you want, and then click the Restore button near the top of the page to restore that file to its original location.
Note: if you're having trouble finding that file's original location, you can use the search bar at the top of the page to find it.
Version History
When storing files in OneDrive or SharePoint, changes to files are tracked and remembered so that you can go back to any saved version of any file on the storage.
There are a few ways to view the previous versions of a file:
- From inside Microsoft 365 Apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc) -- this allows you to preview the content of previous version before restoring.
- From OneDrive or SharePoint on the Web -- Allows you to restore a version of any file, whether or not it's in a Microsoft format, or not.
- From your OneDrive folder on your computer -- Allows you to restore synced file right where it is in your OneDrive Folder
Version History in Microsoft 365 Apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams etc)
Use the steps below to restore a previous version of a document from within a Microsoft 365 App.
- Browse to and open the file in the appropriate Microsoft app
- Choose the File menu, and choose Info
- Select Version History
- Previous versions of this file (with dates to indicate when they were changed) will be displayed in the right-hand sidebar.
- Select any version to view the contents of that file as they were at that revision.
- To restore a previous version of a file, while viewing that version, click the Restore button underneath the ribbon near the top of the window.
Version History in OneDrive and SharePoint
For files that are not Microsoft Office documents (i.e. anything other than .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files), you can view and restore previous versions through the OneDrive or SharePoint web interface. To do this, use the following steps:
- Navigate to https://portal.office.com, and sign in.
- Once you're signed into the office portal, select the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, and choose OneDrive or SharePoint, depending on where the file is located.
- Navigate to the file that you would like to see the previous versions of.
- Right-click the file (or use the 3-dot menu button that appears when you hover over the filename), and select Version History.
- When you see the versions listed, you can use the small 3-dot menu next to each item to download that version of the file, or restore the file that version, and save it over the current version.
Note: It's possible to view SharePoint libraries through the OneDrive interface by clicking on them in the OneDrive sidebar, but they won't have the "Version History" button in their menu. To get to the actual SharePoint location, click the "Go to site" button near the upper right-hand corner of the page. Then navigate to the file through SharePoint and try again.
Version History in your OneDrive Folder
To look at the version history of a file stored in the OneDrive folder on your computer, follow the steps below:
- Open your OneDrive - Cedarville University folder, and navigate to the file you'd like to see the previous versions of.
- Right-click the file, and choose Version History
- In the dialog box that appears, choose the version of the file that you would like to restore.
- Using the 3-dot menu that appears when you hover over a version, you can choose to Restore the file in place, or Download that version of the file.