Protect Your Files from OneDrive: Beware Microsoft Account Lockouts
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Worried about losing files in OneDrive or getting locked out of your Microsoft account? You should be worried. Reading about one horrifying OneDrive experience. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your data safe, why regular backups matter. Discover practical tips to protect your files and avoid the common pitfalls of relying on a single cloud service.
According to the Reddit post, the customer was moving a large number of files to OneDrive when their Microsoft Account was terminated:
“Instead, Microsoft suspended my account without warning, reason, or any legitimate recourse. I've submitted the compliance form 18 times—eighteen—and each time I get an automated response that leads nowhere. No human contact. No actual help. Just canned emails and radio silence.”
That meant all the files saved on OneDrive, including 30 years of photos, were inaccessible as well as other vital information. More on that below.
There’s been no follow-up so we don’t know what happened after the original post.
What to do
If your Microsoft account is ‘locked’ (Microsoft’s term), there’s a process to follow that’s detailed at Account has been locked.
It might be as simple as getting a ‘security code’ to any phone number. Though using a phone number already linked to the Microsoft account would be best.
If the account has been locked “due to suspicious activity or for violating of Microsoft's Terms of Use agreement.” instead of a security code option, there’s a link to another Microsoft web page (using the aka.ms domain) with instructions on what to do. That page lets you communicate with the right department at Microsoft who should respond in some way – hopefully by unlocking the account.
Why was the account blocked?
Unfortunately, Microsoft, like many companies, won’t give reasons for their actions. That’s a part-legal strategy to limit discussion or even litigation. It’s hard to respond if you don’t know what ‘suspicious activity’ or specific Terms of Use breach was detected. That’s assuming the automatic locking process was correct in the first place.
Keep in mind that the account locking action is either partly or fully automated. It can be hard to get a company to reverse a decision, even an automatic action.
There’s no way to know what caused the specific M