Restore Microsoft 365 Mailboxes & Emails

You can restore Microsoft Exchange mail data from backup to a Microsoft 365 mailbox, or download it as a PST, ZIP, or EML file.

Restore Mail Data

When you need to restore an email folder or individual emails for a user's Microsoft Exchange mailbox, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Syncro Tenant's Details Page. 
2. In the Cloud Backups section, locate the row for “Mail” in the Service column, then click Restore:
   
   The Backup Portal displays the Mail page.
3. Use the dropdown menu in the upper left corner to search for and select the affected user's name/email. 
4. Click the name of a folder in the left side panel to select it. The right side displays all emails within that folder:
   
   Note: You can't currently select multiple folders at once.
5. If you want to restore individual emails, check one or more boxes on the right side. If you don't check any, all the emails inside the selected folder will be restored.
   Tips: 
   • Check the box in the header row to select all emails visible on the current page.
   • If you're looking to restore something specific, an alternative to browsing the folder structure is to enter some text and use the “Search by Subject” dropdown menu in the upper left. Search for emails from particular senders, emails only with attachments, and/or specify a date range.
6. Click Restore, and select either “Restore All Mailbox To…”, “Restore Selected Folder To…”, or “Restore Selected Messages To...”. Depending on your choice, the system may present these additional options in the Restore Options pop-up window:
   • Restore to User: This is the target account for the restoration. The same user account is selected by default, but you can also restore emails to another user account in the same Microsoft 365 Tenant.
   • Restore to a Custom Folder: Optionally, check this box to specify a target folder for the restoration. By default emails will be restored to their original location (i.e. the same folder(s) where they are located in backup). You can also enter any folder name and if it doesn't exist in the destination account's mailbox, the system will create that folder during the restoration process. 
   • Restore from a Past Date: Optionally, check this box to specify a date from which the emails will be restored. The current date is the default, but you can select any past date from the calendar. This restores the emails as they were on that specific date. 
   • Restore with Subfolders: Optionally, check this box to restore not just the selected folder but also its subfolders.
7. Once you've verified your choices are correct, click Restore. The restoration may take some time.

Emails are recreated in the selected user's Microsoft 365 Mailbox.

Download Mail Data

You can download mail data from backup instead of restoring it to a mailbox. Use a download when you need mail data outside Microsoft 365, for example for an offboarded employee, a compliance or legal requirement, or access in Outlook. Downloading does not affect the live mailbox.

To download mail data, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Syncro Tenant's Details Page.
2. In the Cloud Backups section, locate the row for "Mail" in the Service column, then click Restore: 
   
   The Backup Portal displays the Mail page.
3. Use the dropdown menu in the upper left corner to search for and select the affected user's name/email.
4. If you want to download specific messages, select the checkbox next to each message.
5. Click Download and select one of the following formats:
   
   • Download Entire Mailbox (PST): Exports the full mailbox as a single PST file. Completion time depends on the total mailbox size and can take several hours.
   • Download Selected Folder (ZIP): Exports the selected folder as a ZIP archive.
   • Download Selected Message (EML): Appears when you select one message. Exports it as an EML file. 
   • Download Selected Messages (ZIP): Appears when you select two or more messages. Exports them together as one ZIP file that contains the EML files.

The download starts.

Note: Downloading larger volumes of data can take additional time before the download starts.