How to Backup Microsoft Office 365 Data

If you are looking for a secure and reliable way to backup your Office 365 to your computer then, this article will guide you for Office 365 backup best practices.

Quick Overview on Microsoft Office 365 Data Backup Policy

Data backup means having another copy of data so that it can be used in case of any emergency. Similarly, Office 365 mailbox backup can save you from various adverse situations. Any natural or man-made disaster on the physical location as well as malware attacks can remove your data permanently from your Office 365 account.

Moreover, Office 365 data backup policy does not protect users from accidental or intentional deletion. Therefore in such cases, users remain vulnerable to this data loss. To avoid permanent data loss, all Office 365 users should back up their mailbox data locally in a regular way.

But did you know that Office 365 cloud data backup is not enough capable to provide protection to enterprises of every size? So, taking backup of Office 365 mailbox locally is a good decision. Let’s discuss the main reasons for the same.

What are the Possible Reasons for Office 365 Backup Best Practices?

Here are the few important reasons listed below for the same:

Intentionally or unintentionally if your Office 365 data is deleted from the cloud. Once the deleted data cannot be recovered in a given time then it will be unrecoverable. Did you know Office 365 is unable to make a difference between accidental deletion, genuine deletion, and malicious deletion it treats all same?

Using Cloud-based application increase the risk of a cyber-attack. In an organization, if somebody clicks on any malicious link or they get hacked easily if they don’t have the proper information about cyber hacks.

Saving an offline copy of your data also reduces the risk of the retention policy. You may aware of the retention policy of Office 365. It will also help you to increase your cloud storage. By taking backup of Office 365 data locally then you can delete the downloaded data from the server and free some space for upcoming data.

Different Approaches for Best Practices for Office 365 Backup

Office 365 can permit backup mailboxes using the free manual solution of the eDiscovery method and also grants third-party tools to do so. If you wanted to do it manually then it requires much knowledge of the Office 365 Exchange Admin center. But, In case you simply want to create the backup of Office 365 data without doing much then the second method is for you to choose accordingly. In this article, we are going to cover both methods one by one.

Manual Method to Take Backup of Office 365 data

• Login to Office 365 Account with your Admin portal
• Select Exchange admin center then go to the permissions
• In the admin roles section, double-click on Discovery Management
• Assign the roles in Roles Section the hit the Ok button
• Now, in the eDiscovery section chose the Mailboxes option
• Click on the finish button to start the backup into PST format

What are the limitations of the Manual Method of Office 365 Backup?

• Manual approach can make duplicate files, that later on turn into tedious to manage.
• This approach can be left some data, which can result in crucial data loss.
• This can also corrupt PST file and becomes a cumbersome thing to handle.
• This is a time-consuming approach and could hamper the running business.

These are only a few limitations listed above, in real-time users can face numerous challenges in order to backup Office 365 manually. Hence, it is recommended by many IT experts to use an automated utility over the manual method.

Automated Method for Office 365 Backup Best Practices

Using the Office 365 Backup Tool anyone can easily create the backup of Office 365 data into PST file formats and some additional features of this tool are described below. It can back up all the mailbox item categories such as emails contacts calendars and documents.

Features of the Tool That Makes It Best Practices for Office 365 Backup

• Permits to save Office 365 emails to desktop in PST format
• Provide Data filter option for downloading selected data
• Naming Convention to manage large no of backup files easily
• Incremental Backup to create a backup of only newly arrived data
• Allow to Pause and Resume the backup process accordingly
• The tool can be installed on any Virtual or Physical Machine
• Covers all most subscription plan of Office 365

Quick Steps for Office 365 Backup Best Practices

1. Install & Run the software & Choose Office 365 & Outlook
2. Check all the required mailbox items.
3. Sign in with Office 365 admin account.
4. Browse the storage destination for the PST file.
5. Opt for required mailboxes & click the Start Backup button.

Detailed Working Steps for Best Practices for Microsoft 365 Backup

1. Download the above software and launch it on your local computer. Choose Office 365 and Outlook as the source and the destination backup platform from the main screen.
2. Check all the required mailbox items checkboxes such as emails, contacts, calendars, and documents from the workload selection for backing up. Use the date range option for selective data backup.
3. Provide Office 365 admin account details like Admin ID & Application ID and validate permission by validating it.
4. Define destination location by browsing the destination path on your computer to save the resultant PST file.
5. Choose the required Office 365 mailboxes from the list of associated accounts with the admin account & click on the Start backup button.

Wrapping Up

In this world of cloud computing and cloud storage, there is always a potential risk involved in losing crucial and sensitive data. While Office 365 ensures security measures and maximum up times, however, in various situations such as accidental deletion of data by users, ransom ware cyber-attacks and etc., users can put their selves in a critical situation.

Hence, it is always the best thing to have a backup of your data on a regular basis. Therefore, in this article, we have endeavored to provide you the best Office 365 backup best practices.