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Data Recovery & Retention

This document outlines how long data is recoverable from OneDrive, SharePoint, Exchange, the Fileserver, and Moodle, as well as how to retrieve data if it was unintentionally deleted.

Microsoft 365

  • Currently there is no retention policy for data in Microsoft 365. 
  • Data of faculty and staff is backed up with 11:11 backup services on a 1-year retention period. 
    • If you lose data that is unrecoverable following the steps in this document, and it is within a year since you lost the data, contact the IT department to recover it for you.

OneDrive

Files deleted from your OneDrive are restorable in 3 stages over the course of approximately 3 months. See below for details.

  • Recycle Bin
    • Deleted items are stored in the recycle bin for 30 days.
    • To access it:
      1. Go to the OneDrive website. 
      2. Log in with your Microsoft account.

        See Logging in with Microsoft 365 for more detailed instructions.

      3. On the left pane, click Recycle bin.
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    • After 30 days pass since they were added, files are moved to the Second-stage recycle bin.
  • Second-stage Recycle Bin
    • Items moved from the Recycle bin are stored in the Second-stage recycle bin for 30 days.
    • To access it:
      1. Go to the main Recycle bin (see above).
      2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
      3. Click the link to Second-stage recycle bin.
        image.png
    • After 30 days pass since they were added, files are deleted but can still be restored.
  • Restoring
    • Items deleted from the Second-stage recycle bin can be restored for 30 days.
    • To restore these files:
      1. Click on the gear icon in the top right corner of the screen.
      2.  Click Restore your OneDrive.
        image.png
      3. Select a date to restore back to (one before the date you deleted the desired files).
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      4. Select updates to keep/discard that occurred since the selected date.
        image.png
      5. Click Restore to apply changes and restore your files.

In total, you have 90 days to recover deleted items. After 90 days, the items will no longer be recoverable. 

If your Microsoft account and/or OneDrive gets deleted by the Helpdesk, your data will remain recoverable by the Helpdesk for 365 days.

SharePoint

  • Deleting a file in SharePoint starts a 93-day countdown for that file and moves it to the Recycle bin.
    • The Recycle bin is viewable in the left pane of any SharePoint site online.
      image.png
    • Deleted files will remain there for the duration of the countdown unless purged from the Recycle bin manually.
  • If a file is purged, it is still recoverable for the remainder of the timer.
    • E.g. if a file is purged from the recycling bin on day 3 since its deletion, it will still be recoverable for 90 days.

    Contact the Helpdesk to recover purged files. 

After 93 days are up, any deleted files will no longer be recoverable.

Outlook/Exchange

  • Deleted items in Outlook will be sent to your Deleted Items folder, where they will stay indefinitely.
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  • To recover items from the Deleted Items folder:
    • Select an email.
    • Drag it to your Inbox or any other desired folder.
      image.png
  • Items purged from the deleted items folder it will be retrievable for 30 more days. 
  • To recover items this way:
    • Navigate to the Deleted Items folder.
    • Click Recover items deleted from this folder. 
    • Right click on the item you want to restore, then click Restore.
      • This will put the item back in your Deleted Items folder. 
      • Drag it out to the desired folder.

Moodle

  • Moodle runs daily backups that are kept for 1 month. 
  • Recycle Bin:
    • This is used to restore courses or other deleted items. 
    • The Recycle bin is set to store data for 6 months before deleting it. 

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