Also the deletion will kick in after 12 months
> Day 1: licence removed or user deleted: The clock starts. The OneDrive account is now unlicensed and the retention countdown begins.
> Day 60: read-only mode: No more edits.
So yeah if you spend 12 months without realizing you might need the data of someone who left then I think that's on you
Data is on pragmatic lockout after 3 months, not 12.
For years, enterprises have been conditioned to lean into OneDrive and forget about it. Indeed, that dark pattern is a festering disease across consumer Windows.
This is classic Microsoft long rug pull.