Is your Microsoft 365 backed up?

What actually happens

Microsoft keeps the service running and protects its data centers against hardware failure. What you store is yours to protect: Microsoft’s own shared responsibility model lists your data, accounts and access as the customer’s job, for every kind of cloud service.

Deleted mail and files sit in recycle bins for a limited time, and then they are gone. If ransomware encrypts files that sync to OneDrive, or someone deletes a folder on their way out, the damage syncs too.

A separate backup keeps copies of mail, OneDrive and SharePoint outside your Microsoft 365 account, so you can restore a mailbox, a folder or a single file from the point in time you choose.

What you can do today

• Find out how long deleted mail and files stay recoverable in your account today.
• Ask what would happen if a departing employee deleted their mailbox and OneDrive files.
• Test your backup by restoring something, before you need it.