Top Tips for Office 365 Email Backup

Emails serve as a vital part of communication in businesses and firms. With over four billion active email users, Outlook 365 is used in various enterprises, helping them to communicate and maintain an effective workflow.

In businesses, the transfer of data and information goes on multiple times a day without giving priority to the integrity of the data. Staff send vital information by email without setting up a system recovery plan for data loss. Loss of valuable information has the potential to put an enterprise at risk. The use of a backup or recovery plan can prevent this data loss.

In this guide, we’ll review the top tips for Office 365 email backup.  But first, let’s explore why backing up data in Office 365 is important.

Three Reasons Why Backing Up Data in Office 365 is Important

Data Loss

Data loss can occur in different ways. Data can be lost by accidental deletion, ransomware attack, or, more often, a computer crash. Thus, different ways to backup Office 365 email come into play. By backing up valuable information to a cloud device, you can prevent loss. Recovering your data through a cloud connection is more effective than disk drives.

Certificate Compliance

Data protection rules indicate that an enterprise must have plans to protect public-private and sensitive data. These regulations make it essential for industries to have backup solutions in case of any database collapse.

Business Survival and Progression

Business survival refers to an industry’s ability to thrive and continue after battling a disruptive occurrence. A ransomware attack is an example of a disruptive incident. Using backups for data retrieval is an effective way to ensure business continuity even after a malware attack.

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Top 5 Tips for Office 365 Email Backup

Many businesses have backup systems and recovery strategies to protect beneficial information that can put their company at risk. However, many companies still fear the loss of this information when using Office 365 and its associated services.

To put minds at ease, Microsoft Online Services has improved reliability with some built-in functionality for archiving and recovery. However, as you will see, you still need a dedicated backup solution to be able to recover items from a specific point in time. For a complete backup strategy, here are some tips to aid you in performing Office 365 email backup.

Archive in Microsoft 365

To keep your files safe for some time, Office 365 email backups are important. Email backup can be done in two ways; manually and automatically.

To manually archive your email, follow these steps:

• Select File > Open and export > import/export
• Choose Export to a destination, then click Next.
• Choose the Outlook data file (.pst), and click Next.
• Select the mail folder you want to back up, then click Next.
• Choose a location and name your backup, and click Finish.
• You can use a password to protect your files further. Create and confirm the password, and click OK.

Archived email is automatically available anytime for you to access. You can find auto-archive information in:

C:/Users/YourUserName/Documents/Outlookfiles/archive.pst.

To back up files locally on your device, you can change their location or remove older items with Autoarchive. You can also export files using the .pst file reader.

OneDrive’s Recycle Bin Options

OneDrive saves a lot of data, but it only stores recent files. Similar to  Exchange Services, OneDrive provides a Recycle Bin with a limited default term that allows files to be kept for 90 days, during which files can be restored. However, you can change this timeframe in the settings. Ninety days is the default period during which you can restore a deleted file. Start using OneDrive’s recycle bin to its peak for your data.

Backup Services

Another useful option for backups of important files with Office 365 is hiring a vendor that offers backup services. Thankfully, there are many vendors providing backup services that work perfectly well with Office 365. While it is not compulsory to hire an external vendor, it can be an excellent option for ease and assurance.

Find online vendors today to backup email information for your company. Even if you do not know how to backup Office 365 email, these services will aid you through the process.

In addition, Office 365 customers may receive discounts to use such services. Research backup vendors to be sure your business data is in safe hands.

Focus On Your End

Every industry should focus on their Office backup data and data protection, because you’re not totally in charge of Microsoft data and its policies. Microsoft assures users of a certain amount of information protection. However, you have access to direct sources of data loss in your organization. Examples of incidents inciting data losses are:

• Accidents, such as an employee mistakenly deleting a file other employees need;
• A ransomware attack that encrypts or deletes data;
• Violent act, like a disgruntled employee destroying everything he was working on.

These incidents should concern every company. Office 365 may not be helpful in recovering lost data in these cases, which means you need more focus on security plans and strategies. If you’re finding all these steps difficult, read here for information on how to back up Microsoft Outlook.

Customizable Deleted Items Folder

Office 365 allows you to set specific options to store and restore deleted information for a certain period. However, this process has limits. While it works with employees’ Outlook accounts, only external administrators with eDiscovery access can restore certain information.

Outlook emails have a limited time of access. Backup data is lost permanently after  fourteen days. Within this limited period of access, your information is still available for recovery.

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Conclusion

Backup strategies are a vital aspect of an organization’s cybersecurity. They prepare businesses and organizations against cyber breaches and data loss.

Regardless of the size or level of your organization, many backup solutions are available to keep your data safe. Read here to learn more about setting up a backup plan to keep your business data safe.

With the tips provided in this blog post and a proper backup system, backing up Office 365 email data on any Microsoft platform guarantees a safe recovery at any time, any day.