How Can I Recover Data From a Corrupted SharePoint Server Database?

For an on-premises SharePoint Server content database issue, the safest supported approach is to restore only the affected content database, not the whole farm, unless farm-wide components are also damaged.

Recommended recovery path:

1. Confirm the recovery scope
   • Content databases can be restored individually, one at a time.
   • From within a content database, recovery can target site collections, sites, lists, and libraries, but object-level recovery is more complex than restoring the whole content database.
   • If the problem is limited to one content database, avoid full-farm recovery to reduce risk to healthy data.
2. Check for remote BLOB storage before restoring
   • SharePoint Server restores remote BLOB stores only when the SQL Filestream remote BLOB store provider is being used.
   • If another remote BLOB provider is in use, the remote BLOB store must be restored manually.
3. Choose the restore method
   • Supported methods for a content database are Central Administration, PowerShell, or SQL Server tools.
   • If the content database is not selectable in Central Administration, use PowerShell or SQL Server tools.
4. If using SQL Server tools, follow this sequence
   • Back up the live transaction log first, if possible, to protect changes made after the last full backup.
   • Restore the last full database backup.
   • Restore the most recent differential backup after that full backup.
   • Restore all transaction log backups after the most recent full or differential backup.
5. Precautions during SQL restore
   • The account performing the restore must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role.
   • Stop the SharePoint Timer service before restoring and wait several minutes for running stored procedures to finish.
   • Do not restart the Timer service until after the content databases are restored.
   • In SQL Server Management Studio, restore the database with Overwrite the existing database selected.
   • In recovery options:
     • Use RECOVER WITH RECOVERY if all required transaction logs are included.
     • Use RECOVER WITH NORECOVERY if additional transaction logs still need to be restored.
     • RECOVER WITH STANDBY is not used for this scenario.
   • The database is automatically taken offline during the recovery operation, so it will be inaccessible during restore.
6. If using Central Administration
   • The account must be a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group.
   • Go to Central Administration > Backup and Restore > Restore from a backup.
   • Select the backup job, then the affected content database.
   • Use Same configuration for the restore.
   • Monitor progress on the Backup and Restore Job Status page.
   • If errors occur, review the Failure Message column and the Sprestore.log file at the UNC path used for the restore job.
7. Avoid risky farm-level actions unless required
   • Do not directly try to recover the Central Administration content database or the configuration database with DPM because this can cause data corruption in the SharePoint farm.
   • The Central Administration content database and configuration database can be recovered only as part of a full-farm recovery to the same farm, with the same computers.

Practical guidance for the scenario described:

• Since other parts of the farm are healthy, restoring only the affected content database is the lowest-risk option supported by SharePoint Server.
• If granular recovery is needed for only a few site collections, sites, lists, or libraries, that is possible, but it is more complex than restoring the full content database.
• If using DPM, full farm recovery cannot be done to a new location, and farm recovery requires the same SQL Server names, drive configuration, front-end configuration, and matching service packs, language packs, and patches.

• Restore content databases in SharePoint Server
• Restore content databases in SharePoint Server
• Restore content databases in SharePoint Server
• Plan for backup and recovery in SharePoint Server
• Back up SharePoint with DPM