Does Microsoft 365 Back Up Your Business Data? OneDrive, SharePoint and Email Recovery Explained
Microsoft 365 has useful recovery tools, but they are not an independent backup. Here is what they cover, where they stop and where Dropsuite and Barracuda fit.
Many businesses assume Microsoft 365 backs itself up. It is an easy assumption to make. Your email, files and Teams chats all live in Microsoft’s cloud, and Microsoft clearly takes great care of its service.
The honest answer is a little more complicated. Microsoft looks after the service and gives you some good tools for fixing everyday mistakes. It does not keep a separate copy of your business data that you control and can go back to whenever you need. This guide explains the difference, what Microsoft does cover, and where independent backup fits. It is part of our complete backup guide for Mac, iPhone and iPad, written for the business side of that picture.
What Microsoft protects
Microsoft builds its cloud to survive its own failures. For files in SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft says every file is written to two datacenter regions at the same time, so a hardware failure does not lose your data. That is real protection, and it is one reason Microsoft 365 is so dependable.
It is protection against Microsoft’s problems, though, not yours. A deleted folder, an overwritten spreadsheet or someone getting into your account is a different kind of event, and for those you depend on a different set of tools.
What you get for your own mistakes
Microsoft 365 does give you tools for this, and they are better than many people realise.
For email, Microsoft says an item that is permanently deleted in Outlook is kept in a hidden folder for 14 days by default. An administrator can raise that to a maximum of 30 days.
For files, deleted items go to a recycle bin. Microsoft says SharePoint keeps them for 93 days. OneDrive keeps them for 30 days on a personal account and 93 days on a work or school account, unless an administrator has changed it.
Older versions of a file are kept too. Microsoft says SharePoint and OneDrive keep at least 500 versions by default, depending on administrator settings. OneDrive can also restore a whole account to an earlier time within the last 30 days, which helps after a mass deletion or an attack.
Teams uses the same tools. Teams chats are stored in Exchange mailboxes and Teams files are stored in SharePoint or OneDrive, so the same recovery rules apply.
Where those tools stop
The limits are the important part. The periods are short, 14 to 30 days for email and 93 days for files. Once something has been permanently removed, or the time has passed, it cannot be recovered. A recycle bin or version history only helps if someone notices the problem in time.
Microsoft’s record-keeping rules can keep or delete information for legal and business requirements, but they are not a separate backup.
Microsoft’s own backup service
It is worth knowing that Microsoft now sells a backup service of its own, called Microsoft 365 Backup. It is a separate paid service that an administrator sets up, and it covers SharePoint, OneDrive and Exchange Online. Microsoft describes it as staying within the Microsoft 365 security and trust boundary. Some businesses prefer a backup that is held entirely outside Microsoft, and that is where independent backup comes in.
What independent backup adds
An independent backup is a separate copy of your Microsoft 365 data, kept outside your Microsoft 365 account, with its own retention period and its own way of getting things back. Because it lives somewhere else, a problem inside the account, whether a deletion, a settings change or an attack, cannot take the backup with it.
Your Mac Tech supports two independent backup products for Microsoft 365, Dropsuite and Barracuda.
Dropsuite makes automatic backup copies that users cannot change and is the simpler choice for most customers.
Barracuda gives the same backup protection, plus advanced email protection.
Choosing between Dropsuite and Barracuda
We tend to suggest Dropsuite for most businesses, and Barracuda when you also want advanced email protection from the same provider. We cover email security on our Security & Email Protection page.
It is worth putting a few plain questions to any backup service. How long are copies kept? Can you restore one email or one file, or only a whole mailbox? What happens to a staff member’s data when they leave? And who is allowed to restore, and who is allowed to delete the backup itself?
What to do next
Start by finding out what your business has now. Ask who manages your Microsoft 365, what the deleted item and version settings are, and whether anything beyond Microsoft’s own tools is in place. If the answer is nothing, that is the gap.
Your Macs need protecting too, and Time Machine looks after that, as our backup guide explains. To make sure your files and mailboxes are set up in a way that is easy to recover, see our guides to setting up Microsoft 365 for a Mac-based business and how OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams work together on a Mac.
If you would like help choosing and setting up independent backup for Microsoft 365, see our Backup & Recovery service, or contact Your Mac Tech.
