How to recover a file saved on OneDrive for which I get Access Denied when I try to open it?

Follow these steps to try to recover and reopen the file.

1. Confirm OneDrive access and permissions

• In File Explorer, locate the file under the OneDrive node (for example, OneDrive – Personal → the folder path shown in PowerPoint).
• Right-click the file → Properties → Security tab.
• Under “Groups or user names,” select the current Windows account and verify that Read and Write are allowed.
• If Read/Write are not allowed, select Edit and grant Read and Write permissions, then try opening the file again in PowerPoint.

If OneDrive itself reports access issues in the browser (accessDenied), this usually means the account being used in the browser does not have permission to the file. Make sure the same Microsoft account is used in:

• Windows (Settings → Accounts)
• OneDrive client
• Office/PowerPoint (File → Account)

2. Check if OneDrive is blocking access to the file If OneDrive shows sync issues or “This file can’t be synced” for that file:

• Right-click the file in File Explorer → Properties → Security and ensure Read/Write are allowed as above.
• If the file still won’t sync, temporarily move it:
  1. Right-click the OneDrive cloud icon in the taskbar → Close OneDrive.
  2. In File Explorer, move the problematic file from the OneDrive folder to a local folder outside OneDrive (for example, C:\Temp).
  3. Start OneDrive again from Start → OneDrive.
  4. Once OneDrive shows Up to date, copy the file back into the desired OneDrive folder and try opening it again.

3. Try opening the file with Open and Repair If PowerPoint reports that it can’t open the file (possibly due to corruption):
4. Open PowerPoint.
5. Select File → Open → Browse.
6. Navigate to the file’s location (either in OneDrive or after moving it to a local folder).
7. Select the file once, then click the arrow next to Open and choose Open and Repair.
8. Use Document Recovery (if PowerPoint crashed) If PowerPoint or Windows crashed while working on the file:

• Reopen PowerPoint.
• If Document Recovery appears, look for the presentation in the list and open the most recent recovered version.
• Save it to a known local folder (such as Documents) and then optionally copy it back to OneDrive.

5. Check OneDrive recycle bins and version history If the file was moved, overwritten, or deleted during OneDrive’s automatic save:

• Open OneDrive in a browser and check the Recycle Bin for the file and restore it if present.
• If the file exists but is damaged or overwritten, use Version History (if available) to restore an earlier version.

6. If the file is rights-protected or archived If the file has restricted permissions (IRM/sensitivity labels) or has been archived by policy:

• Ensure the same account that created the file is used in Office.
• If Office reports that the version does not support the protection policy, update Office or open the file in Office for the web.
• If the file has been archived in OneDrive/SharePoint by an organizational policy, contact the administrator to reactivate it.

If none of these steps restore access and the browser still shows accessDenied with a correlation ID, contact OneDrive/SharePoint support or the tenant administrator and provide the correlation ID and time of the error so they can check server-side logs and permissions.

References:

• OneDrive shows "This file can't be synced"
• Open a document after a file corruption error
• Recover your Microsoft 365 files
• Open a file that has restricted permissions
• How to fix "This file has been archived in OneDrive" error