Microsoft 365 Backup for MSPs and IT teams

Frequently asked questions

• Does Microsoft back up my Microsoft 365 data?

  Microsoft provides resilient infrastructure, native recovery tools and a separate paid Microsoft 365 Backup service. These have different purposes. You still need to choose protection that meets your recovery needs, including how far back you can restore and which workloads are covered.

• Is native Microsoft 365 Backup enough?

  It may meet your needs for Exchange Online, OneDrive and SharePoint. Choose Acronis when you also want independently hosted copies, Teams coverage, Entra ID protection, flexible retention and unified management. Compare the recovery destinations, storage model and security services your organization needs.

• Which Microsoft 365 workloads does Acronis cover?

  Acronis protects Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online and supported Microsoft Teams content. Entra ID backup protects supported identity objects. OneNote notebooks can be included in relevant plans. Office 365 backup is the legacy name; today the service is called Microsoft 365 backup.

• Is Teams chat backed up?

  Team channel conversations are captured and can be downloaded as an HTML file, but cannot be recovered into Teams. Private one-to-one and group chats are not backed up. Supported recovery includes teams, channels, channel files, team mailboxes, meetings and team sites.

• Is Entra ID backed up with Microsoft 365 data?

  Entra ID protection is available through Acronis alongside Microsoft 365 data backup. Configure it to protect supported users, groups, policies and settings. Recover backed-up identity data after accidental deletion or misconfiguration; a mailbox or file backup alone does not restore the identity layer.

• Can I restore one email or a deleted user’s data?

  Yes. Recover individual emails or files from available backups, or restore supported larger data sets. Retained backups can remain useful after a user is deleted. Restore to a suitable existing destination or recreate it first where required. Recovery depends on the retained data and workload.

• Is storage unlimited and how long are backups kept?

  Eligible per-seat Acronis Cloud plans include unlimited storage. Set supported backup retention by age, number of backups or indefinite retention while the service remains active. The Microsoft-hosted storage option has different terms. Confirm retention and offboarding requirements before removing users or ending a subscription.

• How is Microsoft 365 backup priced?

  Acronis offers per-seat licensing with unlimited Acronis Cloud Storage on eligible plans. Direct Backup to Microsoft 365 Backup Storage uses consumption-based pricing. MSPs and organizations have separate purchasing routes. Your quote should specify protected users, Entra ID coverage, optional services and subscription terms.

• Does backup protect against ransomware and insider deletion?

  Recoverable copies help you restore data after an incident. Configure immutable storage to protect deleted backups for the specified period. Eligible mailbox scanning flags malicious attachments and suspicious URLs; it does not block restoration of infected content. Combine backup with prevention and response services in Protected 365.

• How is backup different from email archiving?

  Backup supports operational recovery of emails, files and other Microsoft 365 data. Email archiving supports searchable records, legal hold and eDiscovery. Use the two together when you need both business recovery and long-term email records. They are complementary services within Acronis Protected 365.