OneDrive for Business – how it works- Microsoft SC-400 Certification
By Isabella Morgan / October 10, 2022 / No Comments / IBM and Microsoft Exams
You can restore a file in OneDrive as a standard user by completing the following steps:
- Go to OneDrive for Business.
- Choose Recycle bin on the left-hand side:

Figure 11.6 – OneDrive for Business recycle bin
3. Click on the checkbox that is to the left of the item you want to restore and click on Restore from the top menu pane.
4. You can now access the item in its original location as it has been successfully restored.
SharePoint Online
The steps to restore from SharePoint Online are very similar to the steps used for OneDrive for Business; however, the following lab exercise explains how to restore an item from a SharePoint Online document library:
- Browse to SharePoint Online for your Microsoft 365 account.
- Choose the site collection that has the files you wish to restore.
- Click on Recycle bin on the left-hand side menu:

Figure 11.7 – SharePoint Online recycle bin
4. Click on the checkbox that is to the left of the item you want to restore and click on Restore from the top menu pane.
5. The file will now be accessible from its original location.
Previous versions
As well as restoring files that have been deleted, you also have the option of restoring previous versions of existing files from both SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business from either the portal or from the online apps.
Restoring from SharePoint Online
In the following lab exercise, we will walk through the steps to restore a previous version of a file from the SharePoint Online portal:
- Browse to the SharePoint Online portal in your tenant.
- Choose the site collection that contains the file you wish to restore a previous version of.
- Browse to the location of the file in the document library.
- Click on the three dots (…) to the right of the file and select Version history:

Figure 11.8 – SharePoint Online Version history
5. Put your mouse over the Modified date of the version you wish to recover and click on the down arrow:

Figure 11.9 – Version options
6. Click on Restore to migrate the file back to the previous version.
7. Confirm the replacement of the document by selecting OK.
The file has now successfully been restored and the last version has been overwritten.
Restoring from OneDrive for Business
A standard user can reinstate their full OneDrive for Business structure to a previous date and revert all changes. The following lab exercise will walk through how to complete this task in the Microsoft 365 portal:
- Browse to your OneDrive for Business site.
- Click on the cogwheel in the top-right corner and click on Restore your OneDrive:

Figure 11.10 – Restore entire OneDrive
3. Click on the date to which OneDrive should be restored.
4. Click on Restore to set all changes.
In this section, we have discussed recovering content in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business, as well as restoring to previous versions of files and entire folder structures. In the next section of the chapter, we will look at implementing retention policies and tags in Microsoft Exchange.