How to Configure Audit Log to Capture All Deletes in SharePoint?

Requirement: Track all delete operations in SharePoint.

How to Configure Audit Settings to Track Deletes in SharePoint?

Deleting content from SharePoint can be a necessary task, but you may want to track who is deleting what and when. This article will show you how to configure Audit Logs to track delete actions in SharePoint. By doing so, you’ll have a record of all deletions that occur in your site collection, which can be helpful for auditing or troubleshooting purposes. Let’s get started!

We can Track All Deletes in a SharePoint site collection using Audit Log Feature in three steps:

Step 1: Make sure Reporting Feature is activated:

1. Go to “Site Settings” >> Click on “Site collection features” under “Site Collection Administration”
2. Find the “Reporting” Feature and Click on “Activate”.

Step 2: Configure Audit Log Settings to Track Delete

1. Go to “Site Settings” >> Click on “Site collection audit settings” under “Site Collection Administration”
2. Enable the “Deleting or restoring items” Checkbox and click on “OK”

   

Step 3: View all Delete Events

Once the auditing feature is configured to capture deletes, you can view the list of delete events captured from:

1. Go to “Site Settings” >> Click on “Audit log reports” under “Site Collection Administration”
2. Select “Deletions” Report.

This opens the report in Microsoft Excel with all delete events that occurred in the site collection (after the audit log is configured to capture deletes!)