Summary: This purpose of this blog is to inform readers about the need for taking the Office 365 data backup and the method to take back up of them. We will highlight both on the manual and third-party software to backup Microsoft 365 emails safely.
Office 365 is one of the popular cloud-based suites that come with multiple inbuilt applications, offers One Drive cloud storage, and many other useful facilities.
Similar to any other system, Office 365 is also prone to service disruption, human error, downtime, and much more. Microsoft already stated that they are not liable for any data loss of the user. This makes it necessary to backup Microsoft 365 emails, but the key is to secure data while taking backup.
There may be certain questions that would arise in many Office 365 user mind. How to take complete Office 365 backup? Will there be any risk involved while taking backup?
Yes, there are different ways through which users can initiate taking backups. This blog is all about such methods which help Office 365 users create a copy of their data.
Reasons to backup Microsoft 365 Data: Explained
Several situations make the need for taking the backup of the Office 365 mailboxes. Some of the known reasons have been listed below:
- Accidental deletion of data is one of the primary reasons for users to consider securing their data. Users can intentionally or unintentionally delete the data, which could affect any organization’s workflow.
- Office 365 data retention policy only allows users to restore their data if it gets deleted within some time. After the data retention period, users cannot restore their data.
- The companies need to share their data to meet legal and financial compliances. As they cannot share their credentials, the most suitable solution is to create the Office 365 email backup in the PST file format.
- When the organization that is using Office 365 looks for migration, it is essential to backup Microsoft 365 emails to eliminate the risk of data deletion while conducting migration.
These are some of the reasons which make the need for the creation of the Office 365 data backup. However, Office 365 does not have any native tool for taking Office 365 email backup but using the admin center, and users can take backup.
Different Manual Methods to create Microsoft 365 data backup
Users will have multiple choices for selecting the backup method from the multiple available manual backup approaches. However, this write-up will explain two manual methods to backup Microsoft 365 emails.
Approach # 1: Using Outlook to Backup Office 365
Through Outlook, users can take the backup of their Office 365 mailboxes directly into the PST file format. Check out below how this method works to create a backup:
- You need to click the File tab of Outlook and then choose the Open & Export option.
- Now select the Import/Export option from the available option.
- From the Import and Export wizard, select the Export to a file option. Click the Next button to start the export procedure.
- Proceed with selecting the Outlook Data File (PST) and clicking Next.
- You can now choose the complete mailboxes to back up by opting to include subfolder checkbox; otherwise, you can also select any particular folder. After that, hit the Next button to move forward.
- In this step, the user can select the location to save the resultant PST along with it, and you can also rename the PST file. Click Next to continue.
Note: The user can also make the resultant PST password protected in the next subsequent step.
Approach # 2: Through Office 365 Admin Center
Office 365 admins can also create a backup of their data through the e Discovery method. For this, they need to visit the Office 365 Admin Center. Follow the instructions given below to start taking back up of your Office mailboxes.
- Open the Admin Center after logging with the required credential.
- From the left side of the Admin Center, select Security.
- Now, click on the Permission and then eDiscovery Manager Tab.
- From here, need to select the Edit Role group.
- From the Edit role group page, you need to click on the Choose roles, and make sure that the selected role is export.
- Go back to the Office admin center homepage where you need to click on Search and then content search option.
- After creating the new search, you just need to click on the submit button to continue.
- In the Review your Search, from the Action, click on Export result option.
- From here, select the first option from the Output option, and click on Export.
- After the completion of export, you can also download the export result.
- Need to past the export key and also select the location to store files using the Browse button. Click on the Start button for starting the backup process.
Limitations of the Manual Office 365 backup methods
- The e-Discovery method might create duplicate data while exporting the Office 365 mailboxes into PST.
- It will consume a considerable time to back up Microsoft 365 emails.
- Any mistake during backup can even cause corruption in the PST files.
- Some items may be missing from the resultant PST files.
Instead of using the manual backup solution, we recommend using the third-party professional Office 365 email backup tool. One will discuss in this technical guide that it will take care of the user data while creating their backup.
Reliable Solution to backup Microsoft 365 data
The manual solution requires a deep understanding of the backup methodology, which also consumes more time. Moreover, it will also put a burden on the organization’s resources and overall workflow. To overcome such situations, it would be good if you could avoid manual backup methods. To backup Microsoft 365 emails without losing a single user data, you can try third-party software. One well-known and suggested by most IT experts is the Shoviv Office 365 backup tool.
This software eliminates the need to have sound technical knowledge. It carries a user-friendly interface which makes using the software so easier. If we look at the software’s operational capabilities, it is one of them which have many advanced features to make the process of backup Microsoft365 emails more comfortable. Some more user-centric software features are given below:
- Users can simultaneously add multiple Office 365 mailboxes through Office 365 Admin credentials into the software. It will process them all without slowing down its data processing speed.
- The software provides many options to save the Office 365 backup file, such as into PST, MBOX, etc.
- It comes with a backup scheduling facility, allowing users to schedule the backup daily, weekly, and monthly.
- This tool also has incremental backup features, which are helpful in the situation when the process gets interrupted in between the backup process.
- Adding and removing the data is easier by using the software filter option.
- One of its features, such as a timer for more oversized items, allows for setting the timer between 2 to 30 minutes. If any item takes longer than the pre-set time, the software will leave that item.
The software offers its free demo version through which users can check and evaluate the performance.
Conclusion
The blog has highlighted some ways Office 365 users can think of creating their data backup. To make things more precise, we have discussed manual and third-party software to backup Microsoft 365 emails locally. However, the end decision will be for the users to select their preferred way to back up their Office 365 data.
