Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about MicroBackups. Can't find your answer? Get in touch.
Getting started
How long does setup take?
Most customers are fully configured and running their first backup in under 10 minutes. You connect your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 tenant via OAuth — no software to install, no servers to provision.
Do I need a credit card to start a trial?
No. Your 14-day free trial starts immediately with no payment information required. You'll only be asked for payment details when you're ready to continue after the trial ends.
Can I protect both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365?
Yes. MicroBackups protects both platforms simultaneously from a single dashboard. You can connect multiple tenants of either type.
How many users can I back up?
There's no minimum or maximum. You can start with a single user and scale to thousands. Volume discounts are available for 500+ user deployments — contact sales for details.
Coverage and features
What data does MicroBackups protect in Google Workspace?
Gmail (emails, labels, archives), Google Drive (files, shared drives, document IDs, sharing settings), Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Google Chat, and Shared Drives. All metadata and permissions are preserved.
What data does MicroBackups protect in Microsoft 365?
Exchange Online (email, calendar, contacts), OneDrive, Teams (messages, channels, files), SharePoint Online (sites, libraries, lists), Entra ID (users, roles, policies, devices, audit logs), and Intune device management data.
How frequently are backups taken?
Up to 24 times per day for Gmail. 3 times per day for Microsoft 365. Backups are forever-incremental — lightweight and efficient after the initial snapshot.
What is unlimited retention?
Your backed-up data is kept indefinitely with no expiry date. You can restore from a snapshot taken 3 years ago just as easily as one from yesterday. No additional cost for storage.
What is auto-discovery?
When a new user, shared drive, site, or group is added to your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 tenant, MicroBackups detects it automatically and adds it to backup protection — no manual intervention required.
Ransomware and security
How does MicroBackups detect ransomware?
Our AI engine monitors over 20 risk factors in real time: unusual API activity, file entropy changes (a key ransomware indicator), mass deletions, unusual permission escalations, and more. When anomalies are detected, administrators are alerted instantly and additional backups are triggered automatically.
What is immutable storage?
Immutable storage uses WORM (Write Once, Read Many) policies at the storage layer. Once backup data is written, it cannot be modified, overwritten, or deleted — by anyone, including super admins, MicroBackups staff, or an attacker with full credentials. This is the core defence against backup destruction attacks.
What if an attacker compromises our admin account?
Because backups are stored in air-gapped, WORM-protected buckets completely separate from your production environment, a compromised admin account cannot access or delete the backups. The attacker's access ends at your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 boundary.
Can ransomware that syncs to cloud storage corrupt our backups?
No. MicroBackups stores backups independently of your live data. Even if ransomware encrypts every file in your Google Drive or OneDrive, your MicroBackups snapshots remain completely unaffected in isolated, immutable storage.
Recovery
How granular is the recovery?
Extremely granular. You can restore a single email, a specific version of a file, an individual calendar event, or an entire user account — all from a calendar-based point-in-time selector. You can also restore to the original location, a different account, or export to a file.
How long does recovery take?
Simple item restores (a single email or file) are typically complete in seconds to minutes. Large-scale restores (an entire user account or tenant) depend on data volume but are parallelised for maximum speed — 2–3× faster than legacy solutions.
Can I restore to a different user or location?
Yes. You can restore to the original location (in-place), to a different user account, to a new folder, or export as a file. Cross-tenant restores are also supported.
Can I export my data?
Yes. You can export emails in PST, MBOX, or EML format. Files export in their native format or as DOCX. Full datasets can be exported for offline use, legal discovery, or migration.
Pricing and plans
What's the difference between Self-Serve and Managed?
Both plans include identical features. Self-Serve ($4.99/user/mo) means you handle setup, configuration, and monitoring. Managed ($6.99/user/mo) means MicroBackups handles all of that for you — fully hands-off protection.
Can I switch between plans?
Yes. You can upgrade from Self-Serve to Managed (or downgrade) at any time. Changes take effect on your next billing cycle.
Are there volume discounts?
Yes. Volume discounts are available for organisations with 500+ users. Contact our sales team for a custom quote.
What happens to my data if I cancel?
Your account is paused and backed-up data is retained for 30 days after cancellation. You can export all your data at any time during this period. After 30 days, data is permanently deleted.
Compliance
Can you sign a GDPR Data Processing Agreement (DPA)?
Yes. We sign a DPA upon request. Our EU storage region keeps EU personal data within the EEA.
Can you sign a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA)?
Yes. We sign a BAA for eligible healthcare customers. Contact compliance@microbackups.com to request one.
Where is my data stored?
You choose your storage region at setup: United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia. Your data is stored exclusively in your selected region.
Is MicroBackups SOC 2 certified?
Yes. We hold a SOC 2 Type II certification, independently audited annually. The report is available to customers under NDA — contact compliance@microbackups.com to request a copy.