Gamer Loses 25 Years of Data and Games After Microsoft Deletes Hacked Account Despite Ownership Evidence

Microsoft is facing renewed backlash after permanently deleting a user's 25-year-old account that had been hacked, wiping out thousands of dollars in digital games and irreplaceable family photos. The incident, shared widely on social media by streamer Joshua Khane, has drawn attention to the company's account recovery policies and the risks of relying entirely on cloud storage.

According to IGN, Khane claimed that Microsoft deleted his account along with its linked OneDrive storage after it was compromised, resulting in the loss of "his son's baby pictures" and a vast library of games purchased over more than two decades. Windows Report noted that Khane had provided proof of ownership, yet Microsoft still proceeded with the deletion, calling it "irreversible."

IGNMicrosoft Deletes User's 25-Year-Old Account With Thousands Spent on Games and His Son's Baby Pictures After It Was Hacked

"I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe."

TechRadarMicrosoft deletes man’s hacked OneDrive with 25 years of photos and games — as 'irreversible' action prompts him to bemoan ‘I relied on Microsoft to keep that safe’

TechRadar reported that the streamer's OneDrive contained photos spanning 25 years, all lost when the account was terminated. indy100 added that the digital games lost were valued at thousands of pounds, and the baby photos of Khane's son were among the most painful losses. The response from Microsoft, as described by dexerto.com, has been criticized as inadequate, with no clear path to restore the account or recover the data.

2 sources

indy100Streamer loses 25-year Microsoft account, including son's baby photos and loads of games, after hackdexerto.comStreamer claims Microsoft “deleted” his account because it was hacked

Vice reported that Khane had spent significant money on Xbox games over the years, all now inaccessible. The case highlights the vulnerability of long-term digital assets when a single account is taken offline, a concern that notebookcheck.net echoed by noting the "25 years of data" wiped clean. As of now, Microsoft has not issued a public statement on the matter, leaving users to question the security and reliability of their own accounts.

notebookcheck.netMicrosoft deletes user's account after it was hacked, wiping 25 years ...