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Original poster

Work fuck up, I'm panicking!

83 replies

sun04 · 04/07/2023 13:34

I think I have made a huge fuck up at work and deleted lots of information. Currently waiting for the IT team to get back to me so I know what the situation is.

I am absolutely freaking out so I guess I'm just looking for some words of reassurance !!

OP posts:
tt9 · 04/07/2023 17:43

don't worry, they can sort it. not possible to really delete things these days.... which is good news for people like you and me and also law enforcement. this is why it's important to use some one else's computer if you are planning a crime

ElBandito · 04/07/2023 18:01

My boss once asked a customer to type del ./ s without checking properly if the customer was in the correct directory...

WeightoftheWorld · 04/07/2023 18:04

BeverleyMacker · 04/07/2023 14:41

I'm sure I read exactly the same post a week or 2 ago...🤔🤔🤔

I'm only in my twenties and I can think off the top of my head of at least three similar incidents I've actually personally known about over two different workplaces! Accidentally deleting a load of data is a really common error. So you may well have read a very similar post a few weeks ago from someone else in a similar situation!

OP, each of the incidents I've known about in my workplaces, the information was recovered successfully each time by the IT staff (both public and private sector), I'm sure yours will be too.

SOBplus · 04/07/2023 18:06

If it hasn't been over written (highly unlikely unless a lot of time has passed) then it is almost certainly still there and fully retrievable.

JudgeJ · 04/07/2023 18:11

SinnerBoy · 04/07/2023 14:31

Yes, deleted data can usually be recovered, to some extent. I've been on jobs where it's happened.

As long as you've volunteered the information that you've made a mistake, nothing much should come of it.

I thought the cop shows always say that data can't be permanently deleted easily and they do seem able to get it back. Good luck

viques · 04/07/2023 18:14

I fed the wrong end of a laminating pouch into the laminator and the thing jammed solid. I sneaked it home in a bag under my coat, dismantled the machine on my kitchen table - thus violating every warranty known to the universe - and somehow got it back together and (praise the Lord)working . I had to go into work very early the next day to put it back in its proper place and walk away whistling.

I am ok with fixing physical things but tech stuff leaves me cold! Good luck OP, hope it all goes well.

loveandpoprockz · 04/07/2023 18:17

Moltenpink · 04/07/2023 13:47

If there’s no back up then your company is also at fault for having rubbish systems! Try not to panic

Absolutely this. My organisation can go back up to 30 days and recover lost files. If you company has no contingency for this sort of occurrence then they can’t blame the staff if data and information is lost.

loveandpoprockz · 04/07/2023 18:19

Also a tip I discovered recently was if you realise at the time that you have accidentally deleted a file or whole folder from File Explorer then you can undo the action by clicking ctrl Z

DonnaTellMeThis · 04/07/2023 18:22

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

ActDottie · 04/07/2023 18:23

Normally IT teams can restore stuff, I deleted something once and got it restored

musixa · 04/07/2023 18:28

If you're on Office 365 it should be on 'the cloud' somewhere.

theemmadilemma · 04/07/2023 18:34

viques · 04/07/2023 18:14

I fed the wrong end of a laminating pouch into the laminator and the thing jammed solid. I sneaked it home in a bag under my coat, dismantled the machine on my kitchen table - thus violating every warranty known to the universe - and somehow got it back together and (praise the Lord)working . I had to go into work very early the next day to put it back in its proper place and walk away whistling.

I am ok with fixing physical things but tech stuff leaves me cold! Good luck OP, hope it all goes well.

🤣👏🏼 bless you for this.

Gardenhair · 04/07/2023 18:37

If it's that important it shouldn't be the case that one person can accidently delete it forever otherwise it will happen a lot due to human error.

Lucyintheskywithadiamond · 04/07/2023 18:49

Any decent company will have decent back up facilities in place. If they don’t if will be a lesson for them. Even small companies have this is place. It will be fixable, don’t worry.

Werewolfmum · 04/07/2023 19:25

My old manager used to say on being told something had gone wrong ‘has anybody died’. Nothing is that serious.

I crashed the whole payroll of a local authority back when there were floppy disks. I put one where I shouldn’t. Took days to sort out. Never fessed up either!

IncreasinglyGrumpy · 05/07/2023 18:29

I would think everything deleted is never fully deleted - im sure IT will be able to restore the information and if not, you have discovered an issue with their systems and it shouldn't be so easy to delete stuff xx

Fred12345 · 05/07/2023 19:57

Hi,

Don't worry, any half way decent IT department will have backups in place for just this sort of thing. If the documents are saved to OneDrive, Teams or Google there will be an online recycle bin that deleted files stay in for 30 days and can be restored with a couple of mouse clicks

You may have made a mistake, it happens to everyone at some point. If the IT department can't get the data back then they are not doing their jobs properly which is much more serious.

7393sallyC · 05/07/2023 20:07

I've done this before and IT managed to retrieve the info. Don't stress too much as it may be solved soon xx

ireallycantthinkofaname · 05/07/2023 20:58

Hey OP, just wondered if all was OK in the end? Hope it was. x

LivingDeadGirlUK · 05/07/2023 21:00

Hope it works out OP, in these situations I always tell myself 'I could have been that chap who got the massive boat stuck in the Suez canal' now THAT was a work fuck up...

MenoRageisReal · 05/07/2023 21:22

Yeah hoping OP was rescued by her IT dept!

Switcher · 05/07/2023 21:25

Should be fine unless you're a developer and deleted the database.

Kteeb1 · 05/07/2023 21:26

I thought I had deleted my companies entire mullion pound bid folder once but I had only moved the folder by accident. In any case, they said they could recover it if it hadn't have been found. I also deleted my then boyfiends entire dissertation 24 hours before he was due to hand it in. Mistakes happen.

Spirael · 05/07/2023 21:31

Switcher · 05/07/2023 21:25

Should be fine unless you're a developer and deleted the database.

As a database developer, even that is rarely a big problem. If it's not production, rebuild from source control or, at worst, copy the objects from production. If it is production, there will be backups. (And if there aren't, you blame the DBA. 😁)

Switcher · 05/07/2023 21:40

My DH worked with someone who deleted prod...twice. As someone once said, it can happen to anyone once, and then it never happens again!