Most businesses assume that because their email and files are in Microsoft 365, they are backed up. They are not, at least not in the way most people think. Microsoft 365 backup is your responsibility, not Microsoft’s, and the gap usually only shows up on the day you need something back.
What Microsoft does and doesn’t do
Microsoft keeps the service running. It protects against its own hardware failing and keeps copies across its data centres. That is availability, not backup.
Microsoft calls this a shared responsibility model: it looks after the platform, and you are responsible for your data. Its own services agreement recommends that you regularly back up your content.
Where Microsoft 365 data gets lost
- Accidental deletion: deleted emails can usually be recovered for 14 days by default (30 at most), and SharePoint and OneDrive recycle bins hold files for 93 days. After that, they are gone for good
- Leavers: when a licence is removed or a user is deleted, their mailbox and OneDrive are kept for around 30 days by default, then permanently deleted
- Ransomware: if a laptop is infected, encrypted files can sync straight into OneDrive and SharePoint
- Malicious changes: a disgruntled employee or compromised account can delete or overwrite data quietly, and it may not be noticed until the recycle bin has already emptied
In every case, the question is the same: can you get back what you had last Tuesday? Without a separate backup, often you can’t.
What proper Microsoft 365 backup looks like
- A copy of Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams held outside your Microsoft tenant
- Daily backups, kept for months or years rather than days
- The ability to restore a single email, file or whole mailbox quickly
- Regular restore tests, because a backup nobody has tested is a hope, not a plan
Is Microsoft 365 backup worth it for a small business?
For most small businesses, email and shared files are the business: quotes, contracts, client correspondence and invoices. Losing a director’s mailbox or a shared project folder can cost days of work and damage client relationships. UK GDPR also expects you to be able to restore access to personal data in a timely manner after an incident, and cyber insurers increasingly ask how you back up and recover data. Against that, backup costs a few pounds per user per month.
How we handle it
We look after businesses across Falkirk and central Scotland. Our Microsoft 365 backup add-on starts from £3 per user per month and covers Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams. It sits alongside our managed IT support plans, and we test restores so you know it works. See also our Microsoft 365 support page.
Microsoft 365 backup FAQs
Does Microsoft back up my Microsoft 365 data?
Not in the sense of a separate, long-term copy that you control. Microsoft replicates data to keep the service running and offers short-term recovery through recycle bins and retention settings, but under its shared responsibility model your data is your responsibility, and it recommends you back up your content.
How long does Microsoft 365 keep deleted emails?
By default, deleted emails can be recovered for 14 days after they leave the Deleted Items folder, which an administrator can extend to 30 days. After that they are permanently removed unless a retention policy or third-party backup is in place.
Is OneDrive a backup?
No. OneDrive syncs your files, so if a file is deleted, overwritten or encrypted on your laptop, that change syncs to the cloud too. Version history and the recycle bin help for a while, but they are not a separate backup.
How much does Microsoft 365 backup cost?
Our Microsoft 365 backup add-on starts from £3 per user per month and covers Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, with regular restore tests included.
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