PDF Version

Current version: 25.3.1 - October 2025

Preface

The Security of Regular Backups

Your company has selected CloudAlly for backing up your data. All your Microsoft 365 data is securely protected with easy recovery from data loss. CloudAlly comprehensively backs up your Microsoft 365 Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, OneNote, Teams & Groups data on industry-leading AWS S3 storage.

Your System Administrator has already set up your regular Microsoft Exchange backups for you, and they are safely tucked away in the cloud, should you ever need to access them.

Your Guide to Data Recovery

This guide picks up where your System Administrator left off: giving you the ability to restore or export your Microsoft data, from a single email, contact, or task, to an entire mailbox. Whether your data was accidentally deleted or corrupted, CloudAlly will ensure that you are back up and running again in no time.

Note:    This feature is in beta. Feel free to try this early version, and send us your feedback and suggestions for improvement.

 

Recovering Your Backed Up Data

Signing In to your Account

The first step in recovering your backed up data is signing into your account.

• Navigate to the CloudAlly sign-in page at https://app.cloudally.com/newapp/sign-in.
• Sign in with your Microsoft credentials.

If your Microsoft 365 data has been backed up, you will see the following screen:

Note:    If you do not see a Microsoft tile with a Recovery button, let your System Administrator know.

Microsoft Exchange Recovery

Browsing Your Most Recent Backed Up Data

Your screen displays the most recent backed up data, separated by sub-services. By default, Emails are displayed first, but you can click on any of the other tiles to see backed up Contacts, Tasks, Calendars or Notes.

• The number on the tile shows how many items (emails, contacts, tasks, events, or notes) were backed up.
• The colored status indicator lets you know whether the sub-service was successfully backed up, whether it was partially successful, or if it failed.

You will see the following screen. Once you click a particular date, a tile will open, indicating whether the backup was successful, partially successful, or if it failed. Select your desired date, and click Confirm.

Legend: Meaning of Dots

Dot Color	Meaning
Green	Successful backup
Orange	Partially successful backup
Two dots	Multiple backups on that date

Choosing Items to Restore or Export

After you have selected the date of the backup, and the sub-service to recover, you need to choose which items to restore or export.

The Recovery folders are in the same familiar order as they are in Outlook, to make it easy for you to find the item you are looking for.

In addition to the usual folders, such as Inbox, Sent Items, and Deleted Items, at the bottom of the list you will find the Recoverable Items folder, and the In-Place Archive folder (if it has been activated) followed by CloudAlly Restored folders, indicated by "Restored emails" and the date of the restore.

• If you looking for a specific email, click the arrow of the email to see the first line of the message.

Contacts

When you select Contacts, you can see all of the details about the people in your list: Name, Email, Phone, Address, Job Title, and Company name.

Tasks

When you select the Tasks sub-service, you can see the Subject, Status and Due date.

Calendar

When you select a Calendar event, you can see the start and end dates, and if you select it, you can see the description.

Notes

When you choose a note, you can preview its contents.

Restoring or Exporting

Once you select one or more items, the Restore and Export buttons become active. When you click either Restore or Export, you will see all of the sub-services that you selected. You can turn off any of the sub-services you don't want to recover.

Restore Options: Choosing the Restore Type

Choose one of the following:

• Non-destructive restore:
  • Existing data will remain as-is
  • Deleted items and folders will be restored from the snapshot to a new, dedicated folder with the name [Restored] name. The original folder structure will be preserved.
  • Use this option: to keep restored data separate, enabling manual drag & drop of items to relevant folders

• Replace restore
  • The restored items will be located in the same place as the existing items, not in a separate folder, which is created when you choose non-destructive restore.
  • Deleted items and folders will be restored from the snapshot.
  • Existing items will be overwritten with the snapshot version.
  • Use this option: to restore or repair deleted / modified items.

• Bypass Restore
  • The restored items will be located in the same place as the existing items.
  • Deleted items and folders will be restored from the snapshot.
  • Existing items will be skipped.
  • Use this option: to restore deleted data.

• Click the gear-shaped settings icon. The following option is available:
  • Use 20 GB chunks: By default, 5 GB files are exported, But if the mailbox is very large, you can choose to generate 20 GB files instead, saving you time and effort.
  
• Select the export ZIP destination, such as direct download, Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Box, Dropbox, AWS S3 Compatible or Google Cloud Platform. Depending on which option you choose, there will be other data to complete (e.g., Bucket Name, Access Key and Secret Key for Amazon S3).

Note:    The default "for download" option exports the file to your local storage device.

Completing the Selective Restore or Export

• Review the information on the confirmation screen. If the information is correct, click Next and then Restore or Export to begin the recovery task.

• You can check the Jobs page to see the status of your job. See Tracking Recovery Tasks on the Jobs Page for details.
• When the restore or export is complete, you will receive a notification email.

• If you chose to export, click Download Results on the Jobs page.

A new page will open which will enable you to download your data file.

 

Granular Search by Keyword or Name

To perform a granular, keyword search, on the backup page click Advanced Search.

Enter your search criteria for any of these sub-services:

• Email – Enter a keyword in the Search for field. For advanced search options, click the down-arrow and provide the following details in the drop-down form:
  • From: Enter a name or email address from which the email was received.
  • To: Enter a name or email address to which the email was sent.
  • Subject: Enter a keyword that matches any text in the email subject.
  • Date from / Date to: Enter the date range of the emails you would like to restore.
• Contacts: Enter a name in the Search for field.
• Tasks: Enter a keyword in the Search for field.
• Calendars: Enter a keyword in the Search for field. For advanced search options, click the downward-facing arrow, and provide the following details in the drop-down form:
  • Description: Enter all or part of the event description.
  • Owner: Enter the user name or the email address
  • Date from / Date to: Enter the date range of the calendar you would like to restore.

Performing a Full Mailbox Recovery

• Click Export to download a zip file of your backed up data, or Restore to copy the files back to your mailbox.
• Choose the backup you want to recover.
  • First option: restore the Last Backup.
  • Second option: click Specific Backup Date and select a backup date from the calendar with a backup status indication. (See Choosing an Earlier Backup Date.)
• Select which sub-services to export or restore. The default is all sub-services, but you can turn off any of the individual sub-services.

Export Options

• If you click the gear-shaped icon on the Emails tile, you will see the extra option of Use 20 GB chunks. If the mailbox is very large, this option has the benefit of generating fewer files that are each 20 GB, rather than the default size of 5 GB.

• Select the export ZIP destination, such as direct download, Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Box, Dropbox, AWS S3 Compatible or Google Cloud Platform. Depending on which option you choose, there will be other data to complete (e.g., Bucket Name, Access Key and Secret Key for Amazon S3).

Restore Options

See Restore Options: Choosing the Restore Type.

Completing the Full Recovery

The rest of the full recovery flow and monitoring the recovery results on the Jobs page, are similar to what is described in Completing the Selective Restore or Export.

Microsoft OneDrive Recovery

Two recovery options are available for Microsoft OneDrive data:

• Recovery via Snapshot
• Recovery via Search

Select the Recovery tile in Microsoft OneDrive to restore data.

Recovery via Snapshot

A snapshot is a copy of data taken at a specific date and time. Recover all data from a snapshot or open a snapshot to restore a specific item.

The Data changed from and To fields let you select a date range for restored data.

• Leave both fields blank to view all available snapshots.
• Enter dates in both fields to filter and restore data changed within that range.
• After setting your preferred dates, select Continue to proceed.

Select the snapshot data to restore.

Browse for the file to restore or export. Select a single file or multiple files from the list.

Restoring or Exporting

Once you select one or more items, the Restore and Download buttons become active. When you click either Restore, you will see a few restore options:

Replace Restore

• The restored items will be located in the same place as the existing items, not in a separate folder, which is created when you choose non-destructive restore.
• Deleted items and folders will be restored from the snapshot.
• Existing items will be overwritten with the snapshot version.
• Use this option: to restore or repair deleted/modified items.

Bypass Restore

• The restored items will be located in the same place as the existing items.
• Deleted items and folders will be restored from the snapshot.
• Existing items will be skipped.
• Use this option to restore deleted data.

Duplicate Restore

• Restores items to their original location.
• Deleted items and folders are restored from the snapshot.
• Existing items remain unchanged.
• Duplicate copies of existing items are created in the same location. Each duplicate has a unique suffix indicating that it is a copy (such as a timestamp).
• Use this option to compare versions or preserve both original and restored items.

Users can view only their own account information and cannot restore data to another user.

Export Options

Use 20 GB chunks: By default, 1 GB files are exported, but if the file is very large, you can choose to generate 20 GB files instead, saving you time and effort.

Select the export ZIP destination, such as direct download, Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Box, Dropbox, AWS S3 Compatible, or Google Cloud Platform. Depending on which option you choose, there will be other data to complete (e.g., Bucket Name, Access Key and Secret Key for Amazon S3).

Note: The default "for download" option exports the file to your local storage device.

Recovery Via Item Search

Search all backup snapshots of this service by keyword or name. To search for an exact phrase, including an email address, enclose it in quotation marks (" ").

Use these fields to search for backup snapshots of your service by keyword, name, or date.

• Author
  Enter the name of the author to filter items created or modified by that person.
• Item name
  Enter a keyword or part of the file name to search for matching items.
• Date from
  Select a start date to find items modified or created on or after this date.
• Date to
  Select an end date to find items modified or created on or before this date.

Tracking Recovery Tasks on the Jobs Page