In short
SharePoint Online backup keeps independent copies of your sites, document libraries, lists and metadata outside SharePoint's own safety nets. SharePoint offers version history, recycle bins that hold deleted items for 93 days in total, and restore of deleted sites for 93 days. A backup covers what falls outside those windows, including mass encryption and deletions found too late.
Get a quote for SharePoint Online backup
Tell us roughly how many users or sites you have and we will reply by email with options and a quote.
SharePoint's native protection
| Feature | What it does | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Version history | Keeps earlier versions of files and list items | Microsoft says versions do not scale for mass ransomware recovery and can be exhausted |
| Recycle bins | First-stage (site) and second-stage (site collection) recycle bins hold deleted items | 93 days in total from the original deletion |
| Deleted site restore | Administrators restore deleted sites from the SharePoint admin centre | 93 days; restoring a site that belongs to a Microsoft 365 group or team also restores the group, but Microsoft keeps the group's other resources for only 30 days |
| Retention policies and holds | Preserve content for compliance in a Preservation Hold library | Designed for search and eDiscovery export, not restore; the Preservation Hold library counts against site storage |
| Microsoft 365 Backup | Paid Microsoft service with recovery points every 10 minutes for two weeks, then weekly up to 52 weeks | Rolls a whole site back to a point in time, to the same or a new URL, overwriting changes since that point at the same URL; some legacy site templates are not supported |
Microsoft 365 retention policy explains how Purview retention works and why it is not a restore tool, and Microsoft 365 recycle bin compares the deletion windows across workloads.
Not sure which option fits? Ask us
Tell us what you need and we will recommend the right option for your organisation, with a quote.
Where SharePoint's safety nets leave gaps
| Situation | Native route | With a backup |
|---|---|---|
| A library is cleared out and nobody notices for four months | Gone from the recycle bins after 93 days | Restore the library from a point before the deletion |
| Ransomware or a compromised account encrypts thousands of files | Version-by-version rollback, or Microsoft 365 Backup if you pay for it | Restore whole sites or libraries to a clean point, in place or elsewhere |
| A site is deleted during a clean-up project | Restorable for 93 days, but a team's other resources are kept for only 30 days | Restore the site, its content and structure after the window |
| A bulk edit or migration overwrites metadata across a list | Item-by-item through version history | Restore the list or library, including metadata, from the backup |
| You need an old version of a site for a dispute | Only what retention or holds preserved | Restore to a separate location for review without touching the live site |
The common thread is time and scale. One file deleted this week is easy. Thousands of files, or one deletion found next quarter, is where a backup earns its keep.
What to back up in SharePoint Online
- Site collections: communication sites, team sites and hub sites, with their structure
- Document libraries: the files and folders, including earlier versions where the platform keeps them
- Lists: trackers, registers and other lists that often have no other copy
- Metadata: columns, content types and properties that make documents findable; check what each platform restores
- Teams-connected sites: every team has a SharePoint site holding its channel files
- New sites: make sure sites created after setup are picked up automatically
Permissions and sharing settings deserve a specific question before you buy. Restoring files without their permissions can leave a library open to the wrong people, or closed to the right ones, so ask what each platform documents for the sites you care about. Redstor lists metadata among what it protects; we check the rest with each vendor for your scenario.
Is SharePoint Online backup the right fit for you?
We will check it against your systems and requirements and recommend the right option.
How to back up SharePoint Online with each platform
| Platform | SharePoint coverage | Restore options |
|---|---|---|
| Acronis Backup for Microsoft 365 | SharePoint Online sites and their content | Restore individual files or folders, or whole sites, to the original or another location; optional immutable storage |
| Axcient x360Cloud | SharePoint | Non-destructive, point-in-time and granular restore; SmartSearch full-text search across services |
| NinjaOne SaaS Backup for Microsoft 365 | SharePoint site collections, document libraries and lists | Restore a library or individual items from any point in the backup timeline without overwriting intact content |
| Redstor backup for Microsoft 365 | Sites, document libraries, lists and metadata, plus OneNote notebooks in SharePoint | InstantData streams files back while the full restore runs; granular and point-in-time restore |
| Commvault backup for Microsoft 365 | SharePoint | Granular, point-in-time restore in place or elsewhere; Commvault Cloud with Premium Microsoft 365 Backup Storage for high-speed in-place restores |
Commvault announced general availability of Commvault Cloud with Premium Microsoft 365 Backup Storage on 31 July 2024, and Acronis offers Microsoft 365 Backup Storage as an alternative storage choice. Both let you combine a third-party console with Microsoft's fast in-tenant rollback; Microsoft 365 native backup explains the trade-offs.
How to back up SharePoint Online: the steps
- Inventory your sites: list active sites, team-connected sites, hub sites and any legacy sites, and note which are business-critical
- Decide retention: how far back you need to restore, and how long to keep sites after they are deleted
- Choose a platform: match coverage of lists, metadata and site types to your inventory
- Connect it to your tenant: an administrator grants consent to the platform's application
- Turn on automatic discovery: so new sites and teams are protected without someone remembering to add them
- Test a restore: restore a library to a separate location and check files, versions and metadata before you rely on it
If you already have a deleted site to deal with, our guide on how to restore a deleted SharePoint site covers the admin centre route and rolling a site back to an earlier version.
SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams belong together
SharePoint is the storage behind OneDrive and behind every team's files, so a SharePoint Online backup plan is rarely complete on its own. Back up OneDrive accounts too (OneDrive for Business backup) and decide how you want Teams messages handled (Microsoft Teams backup). Every platform we supply covers all three, so one console can protect the whole set.
How we help
We review your SharePoint estate with you: how many sites, which ones hold critical lists or regulated documents, and how many belong to teams. We recommend a platform and retention that fit, can set it up and check new sites are discovered, and can run a test restore of a library with you. Licences and renewals sit on one Forever Systems account, with terms confirmed at quote.
Contact us to talk about backing up SharePoint Online.
How Forever Systems helps with Microsoft 365 backup
We are an independent UK IT and cyber security provider. We supply more than one Microsoft 365 backup product, so we can recommend what fits your tenant, your retention needs and your budget rather than one vendor's answer to everything.
- Review what you have: we look at your Microsoft 365 licences, retention policies and any existing backup before suggesting anything new
- Help you choose: we compare the backup products we supply against the workloads you need covered, such as Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and Entra ID
- Set-up and onboarding: we can help connect the backup service to your tenant and agree what is protected and how long copies are kept
- Restore testing: we can help you plan and run test restores so you know how recovery works before you need it
- Licensing in one place: backup licences alongside your Microsoft 365 subscriptions, with terms confirmed at quote
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations. Contact us to talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Does SharePoint Online have a backup?
SharePoint has version history, recycle bins that keep deleted items for 93 days in total and restore of deleted sites for 93 days. Microsoft also sells Microsoft 365 Backup separately. None of these is an independent copy kept to your own policy outside the tenant.
How long can a deleted SharePoint site be restored?
Deleted sites can be restored from the SharePoint admin centre for 93 days. Restoring a site that belongs to a Microsoft 365 group or team also restores the group, but Microsoft keeps the group's other resources for only 30 days, so team sites need quicker action.
Can I restore a SharePoint site to a previous version?
Yes, within limits. Version history works file by file, and Microsoft 365 Backup can roll a whole site back. A third-party backup can restore a site or library to an earlier point, often to a separate location so the live site is untouched.
Does backing up SharePoint include Teams files?
Yes. Teams channel files are stored in the team's SharePoint site, so a SharePoint backup includes them. Files shared in private chats are in the sender's OneDrive, and messages need separate coverage.
Do I need SharePoint backup if I have retention policies?
Retention policies keep content for compliance and make it searchable through eDiscovery, but Microsoft says holds are optimised for export rather than mass restore. A backup is for putting sites and libraries back as they were.
Still have a question about SharePoint Online backup?
Ask us and a member of our team will reply by email.
More Microsoft 365 backup guides
Microsoft 365 BackupMicrosoft's own backup for OneDrive, SharePoint and Exchange, explained.