The main built-in recovery windows in one table
Under Microsoft’s shared responsibility model, the data inside your tenant is yours to protect. These are the windows Microsoft 365 gives you to undo a deletion or a bad change, with the Microsoft page each figure comes from.
| What’s lost | How long you can get it back | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A file deleted from SharePoint | 93 days, across both recycle bin stages | Microsoft Support |
| A file deleted from OneDrive (work or school) | 93 days, unless your admin changed it | Microsoft Support |
| A whole SharePoint site | 93 days | Microsoft Learn |
| A SharePoint library changed or corrupted | Roll back up to 30 days | Microsoft Support |
| A OneDrive changed or corrupted | Roll back up to 30 days | Microsoft Support |
| An email deleted from Deleted Items | 14 days by default, 30 at most | Microsoft Learn |
| A deleted user account and mailbox | 30 days | Microsoft Learn |
| A leaver’s OneDrive | 30 days by default (configurable), then 93 days in the site collection recycle bin | Microsoft Learn |
| A deleted Microsoft 365 group or Team | 30 days | Microsoft Learn |
Retention policies are not a restore button
Microsoft Purview retention policies and retention labels are often mistaken for backup. Microsoft describes their purpose as helping you “retain what you need and delete what you don’t”. Content they keep is held for compliance, search and eDiscovery, for example in a site’s Preservation Hold library.
That is a compliance job. Putting a deleted mailbox, site or Team back the way it was is a recovery job, and that is what a backup is for.
What about Microsoft 365 Backup?
Microsoft also sells Microsoft 365 Backup, a separate pay-as-you-go service that isn’t included in Microsoft 365 licences. It backs up SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts and Exchange Online mailboxes, with a recovery window you can set to 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. Microsoft’s pricing page gives a list price of $0.15 per GB per month of protected content (checked 28 October 2026), and Microsoft says restores are free.
By Microsoft’s own description, those backups are kept inside the Microsoft 365 data boundary, alongside the data they protect. It is a real backup, not a recycle bin, but it is still one provider holding both copies, and it covers only those three services.
CloudVision is priced per user rather than per GB, with up to 250 GB of backup storage for each user or mailbox, so your bill doesn’t grow as mailboxes and OneDrives fill up within that allowance.
Where the built-in windows fall short
- Problems found late. If nobody notices a deletion or a bad sync until after the window closes, the built-in tools can’t bring it back.
- Leavers. A departed user’s account and mailbox can be restored for 30 days, and their OneDrive is kept for 30 days by default before it moves to the recycle bin.
- Emptied recycle bins. Items removed from the site collection recycle bin, by manual deletion or by emptying it, can’t be recovered with Restore this library.
- Full Recoverable Items folders. The Exchange Online Recoverable Items folder has its own quota. When it reaches the warning quota, items are purged oldest first.
Built-in recovery vs an independent backup
| Compared on | Built-in Microsoft 365 recovery | Independent backup (CloudVision) |
|---|---|---|
| Where the copy lives | Inside your Microsoft 365 tenant | Outside Microsoft 365, in ISO 27001 certified, SOC 2 Type 2 audited data centres |
| How far back | Fixed windows of 14 to 93 days | Configurable to your policy |
| After a recycle bin is emptied | Can’t be restored with the built-in tools | Still in the backup |
| Who restores | Your admins or users, within the window | CloudVision’s UK team, 24/7 |
| Daily record of what was backed up | None built in | The CloudVision Daily Backup Report, object by object |
An independent backup, checked every day
CloudVision keeps an independent backup of every Exchange Online mailbox, OneDrive, SharePoint site and Team, as frequently as real time, and checks each one against a 24-hour backup SLA. Retention is configurable to your policy, so you aren’t limited to the windows above, and our UK team handles every restore. See managed Microsoft 365 backup and the CloudVision Daily Backup Report.
Microsoft 365 retention: common questions
How long does Microsoft 365 keep deleted emails?
14 days by default. Once an item is deleted from the Deleted Items folder, it stays in the Recoverable Items folder for the deleted item retention period, which admins can raise to a maximum of 30 days. When that period expires, the item is removed from Exchange Online.
How long does the SharePoint and OneDrive recycle bin keep files?
93 days. For SharePoint, the 93 days run from the moment the item was deleted, across both recycle bin stages. For OneDrive work or school accounts it is also 93 days, unless your admin has changed the setting. After that, files are permanently deleted.
What happens to a leaver's OneDrive and mailbox?
A deleted user’s account and mailbox can be restored for 30 days. Their OneDrive is kept for 30 days by default (admins can change this), then moves to the site collection recycle bin for 93 days before it is deleted.
Are Microsoft 365 retention policies a backup?
No. Microsoft describes retention policies and labels as a way to retain what you need and delete what you don’t, for compliance. They are a compliance tool, not a recovery tool: putting a deleted mailbox, site or Team back the way it was is what a backup is for.
Does Microsoft offer its own Microsoft 365 backup?
Yes. Microsoft 365 Backup is a separate pay-as-you-go service. Microsoft’s pricing page gives a list price of $0.15 per GB per month of protected content (checked 28 October 2026). It covers SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts and Exchange Online mailboxes, with a recovery window of up to 2 years, and keeps the backups inside the Microsoft 365 data boundary rather than with an independent provider.
Microsoft documentation used in this guide
This guide is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Requirements and product limits change, so check the linked sources and your own policies, and take professional advice where needed. Sources last checked on 28 October 2026.
- Restore items in the recycle bin that were deleted from SharePoint or Teams (Microsoft Support)
- Restore files deleted from your OneDrive (Microsoft Support)
- Restore deleted sites (Microsoft Learn)
- Restore a shared library (Microsoft Support)
- Restore your OneDrive (Microsoft Support)
- Recoverable Items folder in Exchange Online (Microsoft Learn)
- Restore a user (Microsoft Learn)
- OneDrive retention and deletion (Microsoft Learn)
- Restore a deleted Microsoft 365 group (Microsoft Learn)
- Learn about retention policies and retention labels (Microsoft Learn)
- Shared responsibility in the cloud (Microsoft Learn)
- Overview of Microsoft 365 Backup (Microsoft Learn)
- Pricing model for Microsoft 365 Backup (Microsoft Learn)