Since the end of 2022, OneDrive has supported version history for all file types
Previously, only Microsoft Office files (eg Word documents and Excel spreadsheets) retained earlier versions in OneDrive, but that is no longer the case. We’ll come back to that later after considering some of OneDrive’s drawbacks.
My experience of Microsoft’s cloud storage facility – OneDrive – is that it is a bit of a curate’s egg. The basic idea of automatically backing up your precious data files to the cloud is a very good idea. However, if the service is completely overwhelmed by constantly trying – and failing – to upload large, updated, video files, then it’s possible that you could give up on the idea altogether (but a better idea would be to store the large files out of OneDrive’s reach and find a different way of backing them up).
The most common problem that my own computer support clients encounter is not knowing whether any specific data file is in the cloud, on their device, or both. We definitely don’t have time for that one now!
OneDrive can also be very confusing if you include your Windows “desktop” in the backup but have more than one computer using that OneDrive account.
OneDrive for personal Microsoft accounts is not a “backup” but a “synchronisation” mechanism
There is also one other – huge – problem with OneDrive. Microsoft consistently refers to OneDrive as a “backup solution”. It is NOT a “backup solution” if you have a personal Microsoft account. In this case, OneDrive is “synchronisation software”.
What you have on your device(s) synchronises with what is in the cloud. If you delete or corrupt your file on your device, then it will be deleted or corrupted in the cloud and on any other synched device.
Certainly, “version history” will protect earlier versions for a short period of time (see below), but if you do not return to a file for, say, two months, you will find it just as gone or corrupted in OneDrive as on your device. Please read the rest of this post with this huge caveat in mind.
Microsoft Business accounts are a different matter and beyond the scope of this post.
So what is Microsoft OneDrive Version History?
Putting my own reservations aside, one thing that has definitely improved OneDrive’s usefulness is that, these days, all types of data file have different versions saved.
Suppose you have a large data file that you work on often and that you automatically save to OneDrive. If you look in your OneDrive folder on your computer you will just see the latest version of the file. That is perfectly normal.
Now suppose that you realise with a sinking feeling that you’ve accidentally deleted a big chunk of the file and that if you close it without saving changes and then re-open it, the chunk is still missing.
This means that you lost the missing chunk during an earlier version and, unless you’ve got an older backup somewhere else, the missing chunk has now gone to data heaven.
Version history means that OneDrive automatically keeps previous versions so that you can return to one if necessary. You can now step back through previous versions of your file until you find a version with the missing chunk (subject to the limits described below).
Accessing earlier versions
To access earlier versions, you can right-click on the file in File Explorer if you use the OneDrive app. Then select “version history”. Alternatively, you can log onto your OneDrive in the cloud, select the file, and then click on “version history” to select an earlier version. OneDrive will automatically keep up to the most recent 25 versions of a file if you have a personal account.
There is a second limitation in that the personal version of OneDrive only keeps previous versions for 30 days. As outlined above, this means that you cannot consider OneDrive (for personal Microsoft accounts) to be a backup program.
The common understanding of a “backup” is a copy of a file that you can return to if needed. The fact that OneDrive will disappear your file after you have saved 25 newer versions, or 30 days after you created the version, fatally undermines Microsoft’s claim that OneDrive is a “backup solution”.
OneDrive Versioning’s effect on cloud storage space
All Microsoft accounts include a free OneDrive quota of 5gb of data storage. The Microsoft 365 Personal account has a generous 1tb (1000gb). With the Family version, each of the six users has their own 1tb of OneDrive storage.
Now for the bad news. Every version of a file (up to 25 previous versions, plus the current version) is taking space from your storage allocation. That space will be given back as the old versions are deleted. Nevertheless, this could be a significant factor if you are using OneDrive for large files that are often edited.
Like I said, a bit of a curate’s egg (good in parts).
I have updated this blog post several times. This latest version was updated and fact-checked by Gemini on 05/07/2025.
For further information, see these Microsoft pages:
Expanding OneDrive version history
Restoring previous versions of a data file
Microsoft 365 Personal and Home
Other images designed by David Leonard with Microsoft Designer
