Deleted File Recovery

How to Recover a Teams Recording if the Owner Account is Deleted

Tauseeq Magsi Oct 13, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to locate and open a Microsoft Teams meeting recording after the original organizer or owner's account has been deleted.

How to Find a Microsoft Teams Recording When the Original Account is Deleted

Product: Microsoft Teams
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: A user is trying to access a shared Teams recording but receives an error stating access is unavailable and to contact the original owner, whose account no longer exists.
Observed behavior: The system denies access to the recording link, displaying a message that access is unavailable and prompting the user to contact the person who shared the document.

Before you start

Confirm whether the Teams meeting was a private scheduled meeting or hosted within a specific Channel, as this determines where the recording file was originally saved.

Solution 1Recommended

Check OneDrive or SharePoint Storage

If you organized the meeting or if it took place in a public channel, the recording may still be accessible in your own cloud storage or the channel's document library.

Microsoft Teams does not store recordings within the app itself. Instead, it uploads them to OneDrive for Business (for standard meetings) or SharePoint (for channel meetings).

Check OneDrive for Business

If you were the meeting organizer, log in to your Microsoft 365 account, open OneDrive for Business, navigate to 'My files', and look inside the 'Recordings' folder.

Check SharePoint for Channel Meetings

For meetings held in a Teams channel, open the associated SharePoint site. Go to 'Documents', select the specific channel's folder, and open the 'Recordings' subfolder.

Review Recycle Bins

If the file is missing from these locations, navigate to the Recycle Bin within OneDrive or SharePoint to see if it was accidentally deleted, and restore it if found.

File Permissions: You will only find the recording in your personal OneDrive if you were the person who initiated the recording or if you were the primary organizer.

Solution 2

Request Administrator Assistance

If the recording was strictly owned by the deleted account, only a Microsoft 365 administrator can retrieve it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Microsoft Teams recordings saved by default?

For non-channel meetings, recordings are automatically saved in the OneDrive folder of the person who started the recording. For channel meetings, they are saved in the SharePoint site associated with that specific channel under Documents > [Channel Name] > Recordings.

Can a deleted user's OneDrive files be recovered?

Yes. When a Microsoft 365 account is deleted, its data is typically retained for 30 days. During this window, an administrator can restore the account or access the user's OneDrive to back up or transfer important files before they are permanently wiped.

Why am I getting an 'access unavailable' error on a Teams recording?

This error occurs if the recording file was deleted, moved to a new location, or if the original owner's account was removed from the organization's directory, which instantly revokes all previously generated file sharing links.

Migration & Recovery