Files deleted after exceeding storage limit, how to recover?

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Files deleted after exceeding storage limit, how to recover?

James Groves 20

I received an email stating that all my files would be deleted 7/4/2026, I had gotten this email on the 2nd. It is now the 6th an I have discovered that all my files were deleted on the 4th. I live in Australia so are calenders are day/month/year, but in America it's month/day/year, which as most can see now, has caused me to loose all of my files due to this simple miss understanding. I would appreciate any tips on how to recover my many items.

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GsN5034 - IA 77,270 Independent Advisor

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

If your OneDrive storage becomes full, you won’t be able to upload or sync files, and your account may be placed in a frozen state.

Microsoft provides a 6-month grace period for you to either free up storage space or upgrade your storage plan. If no action is taken during this period, all files stored in your OneDrive may be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Note - This action is permanent.

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James Groves 20 Reputation points

2026-07-06T05:22:31.06+00:00

So all my baby photos and photos of friends, documents I've spent ages working on, are all gone permanently, because I miss read the expiry date?
GsN5034 - IA 77,270 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-07-06T05:33:19.72+00:00

Hi,

Yes, the files have been permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Microsoft may have sent multiple notifications about the file deletion to your recovery email address. These messages are usually sent during the 6-month grace period, when you can either upgrade your storage or free up space.

If that grace period has already passed, the files are permanently deleted from Microsoft’s servers and cannot be restored.