Create, view, and edit backup policies in Microsoft 365 Backup
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Create backup policies
To use Microsoft 365 Backup for OneDrive, SharePoint, or Exchange, you need to create a backup policy for each product. A policy represents the backup plan defined by admins for protecting the Microsoft 365 data of an organization.
A policy contains details of what data (OneDrive accounts, SharePoint sites, and Exchange mailboxes) to protect. Although you see the retention period and backup frequency (which defines the restore point objective), those settings aren't currently variable or modifiable.
Select the OneDrive, SharePoint, or Exchange tab for steps to create a backup policy for that product.
Select Microsoft 365 Backup from the list of products.
On the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the OneDrive section, select Set up policy.
On the Overview page, review the backup features for OneDrive, and then select Next.
On the Choose selection method page, you can set up OneDrive user accounts using any or all three ways. A protection scope is the scope of user accounts within OneDrive that you want to protect with Microsoft 365 Backup.
a. Under Upload a list of accounts in a CSV file, you can upload a list of accounts to back up via a CSV file.
The CSV upload feature for bulk addition of sites or user accounts in the backup policy creation workflow can accommodate a maximum of 50,000 entries per CSV file.
b. Under Back up accounts that match specific filters, you can select Distribution lists or Security groups, or both. The distribution list and security group are flattened when added, meaning the policy won't update dynamically if the groups or distribution list are updated later.
The rule-based feature for bulk addition of user accounts via security groups or distribution lists can accommodate a maximum of three groups at a time. These rules are static and applied one time only. That is, the security groups or distribution lists are flattened at the time of adding to the backup configuration policy. For example, groups or lists won't be dynamically updated in the system if users are added or removed from the original security group.
Note
The site last modified feature is in preview.
c. Under Select accounts individually, you can search and select accounts you want to add to a backup policy.
Once you've made the right selections, select Next to create the backup policy for OneDrive.
On the Review OneDrive backup policy page, review the information to make sure it's how you want it, and then select Create policy (or Update policy if it's an update).
The backup policy for OneDrive is created.
Once the sites are added to a backup policy, it might take 15 to 25 minutes per 1,000 sites for restore points to become available for restore.
Follow these steps to set up a backup policy for SharePoint sites using Microsoft 365 Backup.
Select Microsoft 365 Backup from the list of products.
On the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the SharePoint section, select Set up policy.
On the Overview page, review the backup features for SharePoint, and then select Next.
On the Choose selection method page, you can set up SharePoint sites using any or all three ways. A protection scope is the scope of user accounts within OneDrive that you want to protect with Microsoft 365 Backup.
a. Under Upload a list of sites in a CSV file, you can upload a list of accounts to back up via a CSV file.
The CSV upload feature for bulk addition of sites or user accounts in the backup policy creation workflow can accommodate a maximum of 50,000 entries per CSV file.
b. Under Back up sites that match specific filters, you can select Site name or URL contains or Site last modified, or both.
The rule-based feature for bulk addition of sites via site names or URL in the backup policy creation workflow can accommodate a maximum of 10 keywords at a time. Each keyword can have a minimum of three characters and maximum of 255 characters.
Note
The site last modified feature is in preview.
c. Under Select sites individually, you can search and select sites you want to add to a backup policy.
Once you've made the right selections, select Next to create the backup policy for SharePoint.
On the Review SharePoint backup policy page, review the information to make sure it's how you want it, and then select Create policy (or Update policy if it's an update).
The backup policy for SharePoint is created.
Once the sites are added to a backup policy, it might take up to 15 minutes per 1,000 sites for restore points to become available for restore.
Follow these steps to set up a backup policy for Exchange mailboxes sites using Microsoft 365 Backup.
Select Microsoft 365 Backup from the list of products.
On the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the Exchange section, select Set up policy.
On the Overview page, review and verify the backup policy attributes for Exchange, such as backup frequency, backup retention, cost details, and then select Next.
On the Choose selection method page, you can set up shared or user mailboxes using any or all three ways. Other Exchange recipient types, such as room mailboxes, are not supported at this time. A protection scope is the scope of mailboxes within Exchange that you want to protect with Microsoft 365 Backup.
Note
Adding a mailbox to the backup policy will back up the primary and archive mailboxes.
a. Under Upload a list of mailboxes in a CSV file, you can upload a list of accounts to back up via a CSV file.
The CSV upload feature for bulk addition of mailboxes in the backup policy creation workflow can accommodate a maximum of 50,000 entries per CSV file.
b. Under Back up mailboxes that match specific filters, you can select Distribution lists or Security groups, or both. The distribution list and security group are flattened when added, meaning the policy won't update dynamically if the groups or distribution list are updated later.
The rule-based feature for bulk addition of mailboxes via security groups or distribution lists can accommodate a maximum of three groups at a time. These rules are static and applied one time only. That is, the security groups or distribution lists are flattened at the time of adding to the backup configuration policy. For example. groups or list won't be dynamically updated in the system if users are added or removed from the original security group.
c. Under Select mailboxes individually, you can search and select mailboxes you want to add to a backup policy.
Note
Hybrid deployments, where a user's primary mailbox resides on premises while their archive has been migrated to Exchange Online, are not supported.
Once you've made the right selections, select Next to create the backup policy for Exchange.
On the Review Exchange backup policy page, review the information to make sure it's how you want it, and then select Create policy (or Update policy if it's an update).
Wait for status of your policy to show as Active in the home screen. This might take between 15 and 60 minutes. The backup policy for Exchange is created. Select View scope at any time to verify the details.
Once the mailboxes are added to a backup policy, it might take up to 15 minutes per 1,000 mailboxes for restore points to become available for restore.
View and edit backup policies
You can edit the scope of OneDrive accounts, SharePoint sites, and Exchange mailboxes associated with a backup policy. As part of edit, you can either add new accounts, sites, or mailboxes to or remove them from backup. Removing accounts, sites, and mailboxes from Microsoft 365 Backup doesn't mean existing backups will be deleted, rather it means additional backups won't be taken.
Select the OneDrive, SharePoint, or Exchange tab for steps to view and edit backup policies for that product.
Follow these steps to view and edit backup policies for OneDrive.
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, on the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the OneDrive section, in the Scope area, select Edit.
On the OneDrive accounts backup policy panel, on the Policy details tab, in the Scope area, select Edit.
You can either add new accounts to or remove accounts from an existing OneDrive backup policy.
a. To add new accounts, on the Backed up accounts tab, select + Add accounts.
b. Select the accounts from the list. Once you add accounts to the list, follow the prompts to update the policy.
c. To remove accounts from existing backup policy, on the Backed up accounts tab, select the accounts from the list, and then select Remove. Once you have done your changes, follow the prompts to remove the accounts.
Once you have done your changes, follow the prompts to update the policy.
Note
Removing accounts from backup policy means no future backups will be taken for those removed accounts. Existing backups for those accounts will not be deleted and will be charged.
Follow these steps to view and edit backup policies in SharePoint.
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, on the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the SharePoint section, in the Scope area, select Edit.
On the SharePoint sites backup policy panel, on the Policy details tab, in the Scope area, select Edit.
You can either add new sites to or remove sites from an existing SharePoint backup policy.
a. To add new sites, on the Backed up sites tab, select + Add sites.
b. Select sites by any method as discussed in the creation section. Once you have added sites to the list, follow the prompts to update the policy.
c. To remove sites from existing SharePoint backup policy, on the Backed up sites tab, select the relevant sites, and then select Remove. Once you have done your changes, follow the prompts to remove the sites.
Once you have done your changes, follow the prompts to update the policy.
Note
Removing sites from backup policy means no future backups will be taken for those removed sites. Existing backups for the removed sites will not be deleted and will be charged.
Follow these steps to view and edit backup policies for Exchange.
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, on the Microsoft 365 Backup page, in the Exchange section, in the Scope area, select Edit.
On the Exchange mailbox backup policy panel, on the Policy details tab, in the Scope area, select Edit.
You can either add new user mailboxes to or remove user mailboxes from the existing Exchange backup policy.
a. To add new shared or user mailboxes, select + Add user mailboxes.
b. To remove user mailboxes from existing backup policy, on the Backed up sites tab, select the user mailboxes from the list, and select Remove.
Once you have done your changes, follow the prompts to update the policy.
Note
Removing mailboxes from backup policy means no future backups will be taken for those removed mailboxes. Existing backups for those mailboxes will not be deleted and will be charged.
States of backup
States
Definition
Active
Protection scope selected under backup policy is being actively backed up.
Paused
No further backups will be taken but already taken backups will be preserved.
Not set up
No backup policy is set up for this scope.
Processing
A change to backup policy or a restore is in progress.
Multi-geo environments
Microsoft 365 Backup supports the backup of sites and user accounts from both the central and satellite locations if the multi-geo feature is enabled on your tenant. This means that you can add the sites or user accounts from all geos while creating the backup configuration policy via the CSV file upload method. Adding sites via the site picker, search, or filter rules doesn't currently support multi-geo. Those user interface experiences today only support addition of sites in the tenant's central location.
Most importantly, data in the backups will honor the multi-geo residency requirements and keep data in the geo you've defined it to live.
