Retention and deletion in OneDrive

This is how the OneDrive deletion process takes place:

1. The user account is deleted from the Microsoft 365 admin center or is removed through Active Directory synchronization.
2. Account deletion is synchronized with SharePoint.
3. The OneDrive Clean Up Job runs and the user's OneDrive account is marked for deletion. The deleted user will appear in Microsoft 365 admin center up until the retention period (by default, this period is set to 30 days).
4. If there's a manager specified for the deleted user, they will receive an email, telling them that they have access to the respective OneDrive account and it will be deleted after the retention period comes to an end. Refer the sub-topic below to know more about this.
   Note: If a manager isn't specified for the user, but a secondary owner was entered in the SharePoint admin center, then the secondary owner will receive an email with the same message. Refer to the sub-topic (configure automatic access delegation) below to know more about this.
5. Seven days before the retention period expires, the manager or the secondary owner will receive an email reminding them that the OneDrive will be deleted in seven days.
6. After seven days, the OneDrive for the deleted user is moved to the site collection recycle bin, where it is kept for 93 days. During this time, users will no longer be able to access any shared content in the OneDrive. However, the deleted OneDrive can be restored by a global admin or SharePoint admin using PowerShell.

Configure automatic access delegation:

Only when automatic access delegation is enabled for your organization, the access for a deleted user's OneDrive account will be given to the user's manager. If access delegation is disabled or the manager/secondary owner is not set for a user, no one will have automatic access and the OneDrive account will be deleted eventually.

Follow the simple steps given below to check whether automatic access delegation is enabled:

1. Go to the More features page of the new SharePoint admin center, and sign in with an account that has admin permissions for your organization.
2. Under User profiles, select Open.
3. Under My Site Settings, select Setup My Sites.
4. Next to My Site Cleanup, make sure Enable access delegation is selected.
5. We recommend that you also specify a secondary owner account in the My Site Cleanup section.
6. Select OK.

How M365 Manager Plus can help protect files in OneDrive for Business:

M365 Manager Plus is an extensive Microsoft 365 tool used for reporting, managing, monitoring, auditing, and creating alerts for critical activities. With this solution, Microsoft 365 admins can get valuable insights into OneDrive consumption, audit file/folder activities and perform several other administrative tasks which in turn, would aid efficient management. Here's all you can do with M365 Manager Plus:

1. Create custom alerts for admin/user activities and receive real-time email alerts with meticulous details on the action that triggered the alert.
2. Get insightful reports on OneDrive activities such as files accessed, file modifications, uploads, downloads, sharing activities, user activities and many more.
3. Track file and folder activities in OneDrive for Business, in real time. You can also create your own auditing profile to scrutinize specific operations.
4. Monitor the health status (current status of the service and details about service disruptions and outages) and performance of OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online.

So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and download the trial version here.