In short
Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup is agentless cloud-to-cloud backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Teams and supported Entra ID data, managed in Acronis Cyber Platform. It is licensed per seat with unlimited Acronis Cloud storage, or per GB in Microsoft 365 Backup Storage with one-year retention. Teams private chats are not backed up.
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What Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup is
Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup is part of Acronis Cyber Platform, which Acronis previously called Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. You may still see the older name on quotes, invoices and some catalogues, and our Cloud Security site has an overview of Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud as a whole.
The Microsoft 365 service is cloud-to-cloud. It connects to your tenant through Microsoft's APIs after a Microsoft 365 administrator grants consent to the Acronis application once, so there is nothing to install on laptops or servers. From then on it copies mail, files and Teams data on a schedule and keeps the copies for as long as your retention settings say.
The reason to have it is the same as for any Microsoft 365 backup solution: Microsoft keeps the service running, but under the Microsoft 365 shared responsibility model your data, accounts and configuration are yours to protect, and Microsoft's own recycle bins and version history are time-limited.
What Acronis backs up in Microsoft 365
From Acronis's own product material and documentation:
| Workload | What is protected |
|---|---|
| Exchange Online | User, shared and group mailboxes: email, calendars and contacts, with in-place archive mailboxes as an option |
| OneDrive | Files and folders, with OneNote notebooks as an option |
| SharePoint Online | Sites and their content |
| Microsoft Teams | Whole teams: team name, members, channels and their content, channel files, the team mailbox and meetings, and the team site |
| Entra ID | Supported Entra ID data: users, groups, Conditional Access policies and configuration |
Group mailbox coverage is worth noting, because Microsoft's own Microsoft 365 Backup covers user and shared mailboxes only. If you use Microsoft 365 groups heavily, that is one difference to weigh in Microsoft 365 native backup against a third-party copy.
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The Teams limits you need to know
Acronis is clear in its documentation about what its Teams backup does not do, and it is better to know before you buy:
- Private chats are not backed up. The chat section of Teams, which holds private one-to-one and group chats, is outside the backup.
- Channel conversations download, they do not restore. Conversations in team channels can be downloaded as a single HTML file, but they cannot be recovered back into Teams.
- Some settings and extras are excluded, such as channel moderation settings, meeting notes, and stickers and praise.
Channel files are a different matter: they live in the team's SharePoint site and are restored like any other SharePoint content. If your organisation does most of its work in Teams chat, compare this with the other platforms on our Microsoft Teams backup page, and if you need chats kept for compliance rather than recovery, that is an archiving job; see Teams chat archiving.
Two storage options, two licensing models
The way Acronis licenses Microsoft 365 backup depends on where the backups are kept:
| Storage option | Licensing unit | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Acronis Cloud storage | Per seat, with unlimited Acronis Cloud storage included | Flexible: by age, by number of backups, or indefinitely while the service is active |
| Microsoft 365 Backup Storage (Microsoft-hosted) | Per GB of data protected | Fixed at one year, with a different recovery-point frequency |
The per-seat option is the usual choice: storage is not something you have to track, and retention can match your policy, including keeping leavers' data after their Microsoft licence is removed. The Microsoft 365 Backup Storage option keeps backups inside Microsoft's own backup storage, which suits organisations that want that model but are happy with a fixed one-year window. Restore options and recovery-point frequency differ between the two, so we check which fits before recommending either. Our Microsoft 365 Backup Storage page explains Microsoft's service, and Microsoft 365 backup pricing explains how the charging models compare.
Is Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup the right fit for you?
We will check it against your systems and requirements and recommend the right option.
Search, restore and protection features
Day to day, these are the features administrators use:
- Search mailbox backups by sender, recipient, subject or date, and find files by name, then preview items before restoring
- Granular restore of a single email, file or folder rather than a whole mailbox or site
- Flexible destinations: restore to the original location or to another mailbox or user
- Optional immutable storage, so that deleted backups stay protected for a configured period
- AI-assisted anomaly detection, which Acronis applies to Microsoft 365 backups to help flag unusual changes
For an incident, our Microsoft 365 ransomware recovery guide sets out the recovery order, and immutable Microsoft 365 backup explains how immutability fits the NCSC's principles for ransomware-resistant backups. The Microsoft 365 backup and restore guides cover the everyday scenarios.
Acronis Protected 365: backup plus security
Acronis also packages Microsoft 365 backup with six other capabilities as Acronis Protected 365, managed in the same Acronis Cyber Platform console:
| Capability | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 backup and recovery | The backup described on this page |
| Security posture management | Checks your Microsoft 365 security configuration for risky settings |
| Email security | Filtering of phishing, spoofing and malicious attachments, connected through the API |
| Extended detection and response (XDR) | Detection and response across the most targeted parts of Microsoft 365 |
| Collaboration security | Scanning of files and links shared in Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive |
| Email archiving | A searchable archive with legal hold and eDiscovery |
| Security awareness training | Training videos and phishing simulations for staff |
You do not have to buy all seven; each capability is also available on its own, so a common route is to start with backup and add the others later. Licensing details are on Acronis Protected 365 on our Software Licensing site.
Who it suits and how we help
Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup suits organisations that want per-seat backup without tracking storage, those already using Acronis for endpoint or server backup, and those that want Microsoft 365 backup and security from one vendor. It is less suited to organisations that need Teams private chats in their backup.
If you are weighing it against a similar platform, see Acronis vs NinjaOne SaaS Backup or Commvault vs Acronis, and the Microsoft 365 backup comparison puts all five side by side.
We can size your tenant, choose the storage option and retention with you, connect the service, check the first backups and test a restore together. Licence quotes and renewals are handled through Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup licensing, with terms confirmed at quote. Contact us to talk it through.
How Forever Systems helps with Microsoft 365 backup
We are an independent UK IT and cyber security provider. We supply more than one Microsoft 365 backup product, so we can recommend what fits your tenant, your retention needs and your budget rather than one vendor's answer to everything.
- Review what you have: we look at your Microsoft 365 licences, retention policies and any existing backup before suggesting anything new
- Help you choose: we compare the backup products we supply against the workloads you need covered, such as Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and Entra ID
- Set-up and onboarding: we can help connect the backup service to your tenant and agree what is protected and how long copies are kept
- Restore testing: we can help you plan and run test restores so you know how recovery works before you need it
- Licensing in one place: backup licences alongside your Microsoft 365 subscriptions, with terms confirmed at quote
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations. Contact us to talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Does Acronis back up Microsoft Teams chats?
Not private chats. Acronis backs up teams, channels and their content, channel files, team mailboxes, meetings and team sites, but the chat section with private one-to-one and group chats is not backed up. Channel conversations can be downloaded as an HTML file but not restored into Teams.
Is storage unlimited with Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup?
On per-seat licences using Acronis Cloud storage, yes: unlimited Acronis Cloud storage is included. If you choose Microsoft 365 Backup Storage instead, you are charged per GB and retention is fixed at one year.
Does Acronis back up shared and group mailboxes?
Yes. Acronis covers user, shared and group mailboxes in Exchange Online, with in-place archive mailboxes as an option.
Is Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud the same as Acronis Cyber Platform?
Yes. Acronis Cyber Platform is the current name for what was Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, and Microsoft 365 backup is one of the services managed in it. Some quotes, invoices and catalogues still use the older name.
How much does Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup cost?
It depends on the number of seats or, on the Microsoft 365 Backup Storage option, the amount of data. Ask us for a quote and we will price both options for your tenant.
Still have a question about Acronis Microsoft 365 Backup?
Ask us and a member of our team will reply by email.
More Microsoft 365 backup guides
NinjaOne SaaS BackupThe former Dropsuite platform: per-seat bundles with Entra ID and archiving options.
CommvaultCommvault Cloud Backup & Recovery for Microsoft 365, formerly Metallic: three editions.Compare backupThe five platforms we supply and Microsoft 365 Backup, side by side.TeamsWhere Teams data lives, what each backup covers, and how to restore a deleted team.