Deleted items, recoverable items – in Microsoft 365, which is which?

Topics:

Updated: Mar. 19, 2025

Deleted items, recoverable items – in Microsoft 365, which is which?

The answer is that it depends. Deleted items are moved into a recoverable items folder, but only IT can get there and then only through PowerShell. While the retention for recoverable items is supposed to be indefinite, many user groups report being unable to find older deleted items. This is why backup is such a good idea – you can’t recover what you can’t find.

For more information on how to protect your data in a Microsoft 365 environment, visit our corporate site here.

To connect with Rich Turner, visit him on LinkedIn here, and read his blog here.

Rich Turner

Rich is the Director of Public Cloud Product Marketing at Barracuda. He joined the team as part of the acquisition of C2C Systems in 2014. Rich is one of Barracuda’s public cloud experts – he works directly with the cloud ecosystems and has been quoted in eBooks from Microsoft on public cloud security. He is also a frequent contributor to Barracuda’s own cloud blogs. For our cloud motions, he helps develop strategies and execution with our partners and sales teams.

If you'd like to get in touch with Rich, you can connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.

You can email Rich at rturner@barracuda.com.

Search the blog

What MSP customers need next, from the backroom to the boardroom

Barracuda Research found that technical excellence remains essential, but future growth will be driven by AI expertise, cyber resilience, and the ability to communicate risk in business terms.

Get the report

Cybersecurity skills gap report: AI risk tops the list

Barracuda Research survey of 2,000 security leaders finds 94% report cybersecurity skills gaps, at the same time as AI reduces entry-level security roles that help develop future investigators.

Get the report