In a recent Reddit post, a user shared a story that’s become all too familiar: after uploading 30 years of personal photos and critical work to OneDrive, their account was suspended without warning. No reason. No notice. No way in.
Despite 18 support requests, they received nothing but automated replies. Their entire digital life, locked away in silence.
This isn’t just about one user. It’s a systemic problem with how we trust cloud based services.
The Shared Responsibility Model: Who’s Really Accountable?
Coverage from Tom’s Hardware and TechRadar paints a disturbing picture: even massive platforms like Microsoft can silently fail you, with no warning or meaningful recourse.
SaaS providers like Microsoft, Google, Atlassian, and GitHub are responsible for the infrastructure and availability of their platforms. But you, the user, are responsible for your data. Whilst they may backup data, but its for their disaster recovery, not for you as a user to restore individual items.
As we explain in our SaaS Shared Responsibility Model guide, that means:
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The cloud provider will keep their servers and applications running
- They will ensure it is available on the Internet
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But if your account is deleted, suspended, or compromised, your data is your responsibility
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SaaS platforms don’t offer full backups or recovery guarantees for user error, account issues, or compliance disputes
In other words: if you don’t have your own backup, you don’t have a safety net.
A Smarter Backup Strategy
If you’re relying solely on your cloud provider, you’re exposed to:
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Account suspensions
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Accidental deletions
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Insider threats and nefarious employees
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Legal hold issues
- Hackers and ransomware
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Limited retention policies
Instead, build a resilient strategy that includes:
- Multiple, independent backup locations
- Regular exports to systems you control
- Scheduled snapshots with immutable data
As Tom’s Hardware puts it: “Back up your data regularly across multiple media and locations.”
How Can OneDrive Users Protect Themselves From This Happening?
Years ago, OneDrive was essentially a folder on your local PC that synchronized with the Microsoft Cloud. This acted as a very basic form of backup. Critically, you always had a physical copy of your data on your device.
But in recent years, Microsoft has quietly “upgraded” OneDrive to store your data only in the cloud by default.
While this saves space on your local device, it comes at a cost: the files you see are often just shortcuts, not actual files. The data is only downloaded on demand when you open them. This shift removes the local safety net many users took for granted.
You can regain some control by turning off this feature in the OneDrive settings, restoring traditional sync behavior and keeping local copies of your files.
However, to properly protect your OneDrive data, you need a dedicated backup strategy. This can be done:
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Directly from your PC. Even making a copy periodically to a USB drive is better than nothing
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Via a cloud-based backup service that interacts with OneDrive and performs automated daily backups
Backup providers like our sister company, BackupVault, specialize in backing up Microsoft 365 data, including OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange, ensuring your files remain recoverable, even when Microsoft isn’t able to help.
Don’t Wait for a Crisis
This OneDrive incident is just one of many. Whether it’s a personal archive, business-critical Jira project, or your team’s Trello workspace, your data deserves more than a single point of failure.
Start your free BackupLabs.io trial and protect your SaaS app data today.
