How to Take Office 365 Backup? The Complete Guide

Summary: In this article, how to take Office 365 backup is discussed in detail. All the necessities of the backup of Office 365 are elaborated. You will find the best possible methods to take the backup of Office 365.

As per the current market demand, Office 365 is the first choice as the cloud platform to store the data. There is a wide user base for Office 365. Microsoft Office 365 stores the data and also provides different features to manage the data. The latest algorithms are also used to encrypt the data. However, it does not provide any method to back up the data. If you want to find these ways, then stick to the article.

User’s Query: I want to store my Microsoft 365 data locally for some compliance purposes. If anyone is aware of how to do this, kindly let me know. Actually, I have already used the SharePoint to SharePoint Migration Tool to migrate my SharePoint data to another account. But now I only want to back up the other data.

Why Backup PST from Office 365

There are multiple reasons for taking the backup of the Office 365 data into the PST file. Let’s explore some essential reasons.

1. The Office 365 works on the subscription model. You need to pay for the storage and services you are using. If the data is stored locally, then your billing amount gets reduced.
2. There is no doubt about the security of Office 365. But sometimes sharing the password of the Admin with the different individuals can cause data breaches or data loss as well.
3. There is the possibility of human error. The data can be deleted by mistake from Office 365. Due to this, the data can be permanently lost if you are not having its backup.

How to Take Office 365 Backup?

After finding the major reasons to take the backup of Office 365 data. It’s time to deep diving into the best possible ways that can take the Office 365 backup. You can backup PST from Office 365 either manually or Professionally. Let’s explain each one in detail.

Backup PST from Office 365 Manual Way

eDiscovery is used as the manual method to take the backup of the Office 365 data. Certain requirements should be followed before preceding the backup process.

1. Windows 7 or above.
2. .NET framework should be 4.5 or above.
3. The minimum Internet Explorer version is 8.
4. In the case of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, install Once add-in.

If you are satisfying the above requirements, then you are good to go.

Step-By-Step Process for Backup Office 365 Mailbox Using eDiscovery Method

1. Open Office 365 > Admin Center > Security.
2. From the left panel choose Permission and then eDiscovery Manager.
3. Click on the Edit button, opposite the eDiscovery administrator.
4. Now Search and content search. Click on the New Search option.
5. Enter the name and description of the Search and Next.
6. Now, choose the locations for taking backup and Next.
7. It’s time to select the keywords, apply the necessary conditions, and Submit.
8. Click on Action to the Search.
9. Choose the Export result and click on Export.
10. Now download the results and copy the Export key.
11. Now, paste the Export Key in the eDiscovery tool window, browse the location of the PST file, and start the process.

Limitations

1. It is a very time-consuming process with so many complicated steps.
2. It is not able to back up all of the data.
3. You need to be good at the technicalities of Office 365.
4. It is not making sure to back up the complete data.

How to Take Office 365 Backup Professionally

There are multiple limitations to using the manual method for backup Office 365 mailbox. To reduce the time and back the data safely you should go with the professional solution. It is recommended by the experts to take a backup of O365. An automated tool is used in this approach which is Office 365 Backup Software by SysTools to take the backup of the data. This tool also processes the shared mailboxes and follows the best practices for Office 365 backup.

Step-By-Step Approach to Backup Office 365 Mailbox

1. Download the tool and Select Office 365 as the Source and Outlook as the destination.
2. Select the items under the workload and apply the Date Filter.
3. Enter the Admin Email ID and Application ID in the source tab and Next.
4. In the destination tab, select the location of the file and size of the file and Next.
5. Select the users from Fetch users, Import users, and Download template options.
6. Click on the Start Backup button.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have explained the complete process of how to take Office 365 backup. The backup of Office 365 plays an important role in the Organizations to save the essentials locally. We have elaborated on the two different methods. Manual and Professional methods. Due to some limitations in the manual method, it is not recommended to use. The Professional method is recommended to use because of its rich advanced features that make the backup of Office 365 easier.

Read also The Importance of Backups and Disaster Recovery Plans for Dedicated Servers