Microsoft 365 backs up my data — doesn't it?
One of the most common — and most dangerous — assumptions we hear. Microsoft keeps your service running, but recovering your data after you delete it is a different question entirely.
“It’s in the cloud, so it’s backed up.” It’s one of the most common assumptions we hear, and one of the most expensive to get wrong.
What Microsoft actually guarantees
Microsoft operates on a shared responsibility model. In plain terms: Microsoft is responsible for keeping the service running — the infrastructure, uptime, and physical resilience of their data centres. You are responsible for your data within it.
Microsoft says this themselves. Their recommendation is that you regularly back up your content using third-party apps. That’s not a footnote — it’s the design.
The gaps people discover too late
Microsoft 365 has some native retention, but it’s limited and it’s not a backup. The situations that catch businesses out:
- Accidental deletion that isn’t noticed until after the retention window has passed.
- A departing employee’s mailbox deleted to save a licence — along with information you turn out to need months later.
- Ransomware or a compromised account that deletes or encrypts files, which then sync to everyone.
- Malicious deletion by someone with legitimate access.
In each case the data is gone, and “it’s in the cloud” offers no help at all.
What to do instead
The fix is straightforward and inexpensive: a dedicated third-party backup for Microsoft 365 that covers Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, with retention you control and a restore process that’s actually been tested. The key word is tested — a backup you’ve never restored from is a hope, not a safeguard.
If you’re not certain whether your Microsoft 365 data is genuinely recoverable — most people aren’t — we can check. It’s a quick conversation and a common one.