Restoring and Exporting User Data

The amount of time it takes to complete your first backup will vary according to how much data you have stored in the user accounts that are being backed up. Once your initial backup is complete, you’ll be able to use the restore and export functions in Spanning.

Spanning Administrators can administer backups and restore data for any licensed user in the tenant.

Users are also able to restore their own data for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and OneDrive. The benefits of empowering end-users include:

  • Improved user productivity by enabling them to easily and quickly restore lost or deleted data.
  • Fewer support calls.
  • Saved time for IT Admins to focus on more strategic tasks.

See these procedures to restore or export user data:

  1. Log into your Spanning Backup for Microsoft 365 account as an admin user.
  2. Click Users.
  3. Locate the user whose data you want to restore. Click the user's icon and select View Backups.
  4. Select the Mail, Calendar, Contacts, or OneDrive tab to access the type of data you will be restoring. Proceed to one of the following:
  1. On the Mail tab, locate the items you want to restore. To quickly find what you’re searching for, you can filter the list of emails by point-in-time, author/subject, or both:
    • Point in time – Use the calendar date selector to choose a specific backup.
    • Author/subject – Enter text in the Search Email field. Only items that have an author or subject containing the string you entered display in the list.
  1. Check boxes to select items to restore.
    • To select an email, check the box next to the email.
    • To select a folder, check the box next to the folder name.
  2. Select Restore from the Select Action list.
  3. Choose whether to restore to the same user’s account or to a different user’s account within the same tenant.

NOTE  Spanning admins can perform cross-user restores. Non-admin users can only restore their own backup data to their own account.

  1. Click Next.
  2. If you are restoring to a different user, select the user and click Next.
  3. Click Restore. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the restore was initiated.
  4. When the restore is complete, you receive an email notification. The restore displays on the Activity page in the Past items. Click the activity to view details about the restore.
  1. On the Calendar tab, check boxes to select the items you want to restore. You can select a single event, multiple events, or entire calendars.
  2. Select Restore from the Select Action list.
  3. Choose whether to restore to the same user’s account or to a different user’s account within the same tenant. You can also opt to restore calendar events with attendees.

NOTE  Spanning admins can perform cross-user restores. Non-admin users can only restore their own backup data to their own account.

  1. Click Next.
  2. If you are restoring to a different user, select the user and click Next.
  3. Click Restore. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the restore was initiated.
  4. When the restore is complete, you receive an email notification. Data is restored into a newly created calendar in the user’s active Microsoft 365 Calendar, titled Restored on (date).
  1. On the Contacts tab, check boxes to select the items that you want to restore. You can select a single contact, contact folder, or a mix of contacts from different folders.
  2. Select Restore from the Select Action list.
  3. Choose whether to restore to the same user’s account or to a different user’s account within the same tenant.

NOTE  Spanning admins can perform cross-user restores. Non-admin users can only restore their own backup data to their own account.

  1. Click Next.
  2. If you are restoring to a different user, select the user and click Next.
  3. Click Restore. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the restore was initiated.
  4. When the restore is complete, you receive an email notification. Data is restored into a newly created folder in the user’s active Microsoft 365 Exchange Contacts, titled Restored on (date).
  1. On the OneDrive tab, check boxes to select the items you want to restore. You can select a single file or folder, multiple files or folders, or your entire OneDrive directory.
  2. Select Restore from the Select Action list.
  3. Choose whether to restore to the same user’s account or to a different user’s account within the same tenant.

NOTE  Spanning admins can perform cross-user restores. Non-admin users can only restore their own backup data to their own account.

  1. Click Next.
  2. If you are restoring to a different user, select the user and click Next.
  3. Click Restore. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the restore was initiated.
  4. When the restore is complete, you receive an email notification. Data is restored into a newly created folder in the user’s active Microsoft 365 OneDrive account, titled Restored on (date).

NOTE  OneNote Notebooks are fully supported by Spanning Backup for Microsoft 365. Due to the design of Microsoft OneNote they do require an extra step to restore them back to their original location. For details, see our guide for Restoring Microsoft OneNote.

  1. Log into your Spanning Backup for Microsoft 365 account as an admin user.
  2. Click Users.
  3. Locate the user whose data you want to export. Click the user's icon and select View Backups.
  4. Select the Mail or OneDrive tab to access the type of data you will be exporting. Proceed to one of the following:
  1. On the Mail tab, locate the items you want to export. To quickly find what you’re searching for, you can filter the list of emails by point-in-time, author/subject, or both:
    • Point in time – Use the calendar date selector to choose a specific backup.
    • Author/subject – Enter text in the Search Email field. Only items that have an author or subject containing the string you entered display in the list.
  2. Check boxes to select items to export
    • To select an email, check the box next to the email.
    • To select a folder, check the box next to the folder name.
  3. Select Export from the Select Action list.
  1. Click Confirm. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the export was initiated.
  2. When the export has finished compressing, you receive an email notification. The export displays on the Activity page in the Past items.
    • Click the activity to view details about the export.
    • Click the Export link to save the export to your local hard drive.

NOTE  If the Export link is not clicked, it expires 14 days after the export has finished compressing. After the Export link has been clicked, it is disabled in 24 hours.

  1. The export is downloaded as a compressed .zip file. After you extract the file (WinZip for Windows users, Archive Utility for Mac users), all of your selected email is in .eml format. These email files can be imported into many email clients, including Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, or Mozilla Thunderbird.

NOTE  Outlook example – To import the files into Outlook, simply drag them into the desired folder:

  1. On the OneDrive tab, check boxes to select the items you want to export. You can select a single file or folder, multiple files or folders, or your entire OneDrive directory.
  2. Select Export from the Select Action list.
  3. Click Confirm. A notification displays at the top of the page indicating that the export was initiated.
  4. When the export has finished compressing, you receive an email notification. The export displays on the Activity page in the Past items.
    • Click the activity to view details about the export.
    • Click the Export link to save the export to your local hard drive.

NOTE  If the Export link is not clicked, it expires 14 days after the export has finished compressing. After the Export link has been clicked, it is disabled in 24 hours.

  1. The export is downloaded as a compressed .zip file. After you extract the file (WinZip for Windows users, Archive Utility for Mac users), all files are in the same format as they were in OneDrive.