Can’t find a file in SharePoint or OneDrive?

01 · Try this first.

1. Open the search box. Go to microsoft365.com, sign in with your work account and click the search box at the top.
2. Type a word from the file. Use part of the name or a phrase from inside the document, then press Enter. If the results are mixed, choose the Files filter.
3. Open the file. Select it in the results.

Success looks like your file in the results, opening in your browser when you select it. If you know the file is in your own OneDrive, the search box at the top of onedrive.com works too. Search only shows files your account can open, so if a colleague says the file exists and nothing appears, go to Ask for access.

02 · Check Recent and Shared.

1. Open Recent. On onedrive.com, choose Recent in the left menu. A file you opened lately is near the top.
2. Open Shared. Choose Shared in the left menu. If a colleague owns the file, it sits in their OneDrive and shows here, not in your own files.
3. Check the account. A personal Microsoft account and a work account have separate OneDrives. Select your profile picture at the top right and confirm it is the work account.

Success looks like the file listed with the place it is saved. Select its name to open it.

03 · Look in your OneDrive folder on the PC.

1. Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer, then select OneDrive - Your company name in the left pane.
2. Click the search box at the top right and type the file name.
3. If the file has a blue cloud beside it, it is online only. Double-click it to open it and download a copy to this PC.

File Explorer can find online-only files by name but cannot search inside them, so an empty result here proves nothing. Use the website search to look inside files. SharePoint libraries only appear here if you have synced them.

04 · Look for a moved file.

A colleague may have moved or renamed the file. It still exists, but it is somewhere else.

1. Open the SharePoint site. Go to the site the file used to be on.
2. Search from inside the site. Use the search box at the top of the site and type a word from the file.
3. Open the other libraries and folders. Look in each document library or folder where it could have been put.

A link to the old location can stop working after a file is moved. Ask the person who sent the link for a new one, or search for the file name.

05 · Restore it from the recycle bin.

If someone deleted the file, you can often bring it back. On a work or school account, deleted items stay in the recycle bin for 93 days, unless your admin has changed that setting.

In OneDrive

1. Go to onedrive.com and choose Recycle bin in the left menu.
2. Tick the box beside the file.
3. Select Restore.

In SharePoint

1. Open the site and choose Recycle bin in the left menu. If you cannot see it, select Settings, then Site contents, then Recycle bin at the top right.
2. Tick the box beside the file.
3. Select Restore.

Success looks like the file back in its original folder. If it is not in the site recycle bin, select the second-stage recycle bin link at the bottom of that page. That bin holds items removed from the first one, and only a site collection administrator can open it, so ask your admin or the site owner.

06 · Restore an earlier version.

Use this when the file is there but someone saved over it, or the contents are wrong.

1. Right-click the file in OneDrive or SharePoint on the web and select Version history.
2. Select the three dots (...) beside the version you want.
3. Select Restore.

The restored version becomes the current file, and the one it replaced stays in the list. If many files went missing at once, go to onedrive.com and select Settings, then Restore OneDrive. Pick a date in the last 30 days. This undoes every change since that date, so choose it with care.

07 · Ask for access.

A message that says you do not have access means the file still exists, but your account has lost permission or never had it. Searching and the recycle bin will not fix that.

1. Select Request access if the page offers it.
2. Otherwise, ask the file’s owner or the site owner to share it with your work email address.

Success looks like the file opening, or appearing under Shared, once the owner has shared it with you.

08 · Or let KoalaFix do it.

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09 · Still stuck?

If the file is in neither recycle bin, the cause is usually not your PC. Your admin can do more than you can:

• A site collection administrator can open the second-stage recycle bin.
• If the file was in the OneDrive of someone who has left, a Microsoft 365 admin can restore that OneDrive for a limited time after the account was deleted.
• Microsoft keeps backups of a SharePoint site for a further 14 days after items are permanently deleted. These restore a whole site collection, not one file.
• The Microsoft 365 admin centre shows whether a Microsoft service problem is affecting files.

10 · FAQ.

Where does a restored file go?

Back to the folder it was deleted from. If that folder was deleted as well, restore the folder first, then the file.

Can I restore a file that someone else deleted?

In SharePoint, anyone with edit permission on the site can restore items from the site recycle bin. In OneDrive, you cannot restore a shared folder that its owner deleted, so ask the owner to restore it from their recycle bin.

Can KoalaFix restore a deleted file?

No. KoalaFix can help you find a file, but recovering deleted files stays with you or your admin.

Where is the OneDrive recycle bin?

In your browser, not on your PC. Go to onedrive.com, sign in with your work account and choose Recycle bin in the left menu. A SharePoint site has its own recycle bin, in the left menu of that site or under Settings, then Site contents.

11 · Related fixes.

• OneDrive not syncing
• Excel file locked for editing
• Locked out of Microsoft 365

12 · What KoalaFix can handle.

See the full capability map for what KoalaFix fixes automatically, what asks for approval, and what still needs a person.

13 · Sources.

The steps in this guide follow these pages. Menus can move when Microsoft updates its apps, so check them if a step looks different.

• Find lost or missing files in OneDrive (Microsoft Support)
• Manage the recycle bin of a SharePoint site (Microsoft Support)
• Restore a previous version of a file stored in OneDrive (Microsoft Support)