Entra (formerly Azure Active Directory, Azure AD) is the default identity and access management platform for Microsoft Office. That means if something were to compromise your data and configurations inside Entra, it could potentially lock your organization out of all its applications and resources in Microsoft 365.
Given how important it is to ensuring business continuity, it's important to know the fail safe measures Microsoft has in place in the event that your Microsoft Entra data is ever compromised.
Entra Recycle Bin is a feature that enables administrators to recover any deleted object, such as users, groups, and application registrations within a 30-day retention period in Entra, offering an additional layer of data protection from internal errors and external threats.
Today, let's take a look at everything you need to about Azure AD Recycle Bin, including its advantages and limitations, to understand how to create a comprehensive backup plan for your configurations and data.
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Azure AD Recycle Bin is a feature in Microsoft's Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), which provides a temporary storage location for any deleted object such as users, groups, and application registrations.
After an object is deleted in Azure AD, Recycle Bin holds it objects in a "soft-delete" state for 30 days before that object is permanently deleted. Soft-deleted objects are not visible in the regular directory listing but can still be accessed and restored using Azure AD PowerShell cmdlets or the Azure Portal. When an object is restored, all of its attributes and relationships with other objects are also restored, ensuring the object returns to its original state.
After the retention period of 30 days has passed, the object is permanently deleted, with recovery no longer an option. If an object is no longer needed, you can opt to permanently delete it from the Recycle Bin even before the 30-day retention period has expired.
Only users with administrative privileges, such as Global Administrators or User Administrators, can access and manage the Azure AD Recycle Bin. They can perform tasks such as listing, restoring, and permanently deleting soft-deleted objects.
Recycle Bin cannot recover every type of object, setting, or configuration stored in Azure Active Directory. It's coverage is limited to the following types of objects only:
While it provides a useful layer of protection for recovering deleted objects, Recycle Bin has certain limitations that may not fully satisfy enterprise security and compliance requirements. These limitations include:
Azure AD Recycle Bin is enabled by default in all Azure Active Directory environments, so there is no need to manually enable it. Microsoft provides this functionality automatically to ensure a base level of protection and recovery for your Azure AD objects, such as users, groups, and application registrations.
However, it is important to be familiar with how to access and use the Azure AD Recycle Bin to recover deleted objects when needed. To access and manage the Microsoft Azure AD Recycle Bin, follow these steps:
To restore a deleted object:
To permanently delete directory objects:
Simeon Cloud is an end-to-end platform that automates management and administration for Microsoft 365 policies and configurations, including those from Azure AD. Simeon is a full-service alternative to Azure AD Recycle Bin that's perfectly capable of handling the security and compliance needs of enterprise organizations and managed service providers.
How does Simeon work? It uses configuration-as-code technology powered by the Microsoft Graph API to retrieve objects and configurations directly from Azure AD. It then stores these configurations and policies in a cloud storage environment so that they can be restored on demand.
With Simeon, you have a full-fledged audit log and complete version control over all your deleted and modified objects in Azure AD. Restoring an object is as easy as clicking a few buttons in our intuitive no-code web portal, saving you the hassle of having to deal with complex code in a command-line interface like PowerShell DSC.
Want to learn more about how Simeon can serve as a viable alternative to Azure AD Recycle Bin for your organization? Request a free demo today!