Restore all files but ones that already exist from the recycle bin using PowerShell

Hello,

I have a client that I am working with that had a slight mix-up that lead to many duplicate files being created and then deleted (along with others that they need restored), there are 10,000s of files scattered amongst 100s of sub folders, so a manual process wouldn’t be possible. I know I can restore from the recycle bin by date, but does anyone know of a way that I could use that PowerShell cmdlet to also automatically say “no” to files that already exist?

NOTE: the files that are duplicates have the exact same file name and path as the existing ones, meaning that it would make them a “copy”

Any help would be appreciated!

powershell

sharepoint

Redbaron99
Apr 06, 2022
Thank you for your patience, and help. I was able to figure out the issue. The "(Get-Date)" string applies a time to it, thus, making it fail. I worked around it by using a date range instead. The following cmdlet solved the issue:

Install-Module -Name PnP.PowerShell
Import-Module PnP.PowerShell
connect-pnponline -url *sharepoint site URL* -interactive
$date1 = (Get-Date).date.AddDays(-5)
$date2 = (Get-Date).date.AddDays(-6)
Get-PnPRecycleBinItem | ForEach-Object {
$dir = $_.DirName
$title = $_.Title
$path = "$dir/$title"
$deletedDate = $_.DeletedDate
$fileExists = Get-PnPFile -url $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($fileExists) {
Write-Host "$title exists"
} else {
Write-Host "$title doesn't exist"
if ($deletedDate -gt $date2 -and $deletedDate -lt $date1) {
Write-host "$title is equal to $date2 and will be restored"
$_ | Restore-PnpRecycleBinItem -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
} else {
Write-Host "$title is not equal to $date2 and will not be restored"
}
}
}

Leavii
Brass Contributor
Mar 28, 2022

Redbaron99

Hello,
I assume you are meaning from SharePoint Recycle bin.
I quickly threw together a site, files, and this script and it worked when I deleted files and restored them. I included some resources as well so you could make a better/cleaner script for your need.

connect-pnponline -url https://your.sharepoint.com/ -interactive $recycleBin = Get-PnPRecycleBinItem $recycleBin | ForEach-Object { $dir = $_.DirName $title = $_.Title $path = "$dir/$title" $fileExists = Get-PnPFile -url $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue if ($fileExists) { Write-Host "$title exists" } else { Write-Host "$title Restoring" $_ | Restore-PnpRecycleBinItem -Force } } Read-Host "Done"

Sources
SharePointDiary
Github
pnp.github/restore-pnprecyclebin
pnp.github/get-pnprecyclebinitem
- Redbaron99
  Copper Contributor
  Mar 28, 2022
  Thank you so much, I’ll mess around with it for a bit. Am still learning PowerShell so thank you for the resources as well!
  - Leavii
    Brass Contributor
    Mar 28, 2022
    Of course. Always glad to help. Let us know how it goes, eh? 😄

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Restore all files but ones that already exist from the recycle bin using PowerShell

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