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Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace

Backing up Google Workspace

Backing up Google Workspace means copying whatever is valuable in it to a location outside the Google domain: Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, My Drive and shared drives. The domain may be fully redundant at Google and still lose a folder, because a user or an administrator destroyed it.

Updated October 20263 min read6 sources cited

Key points

  • Google’s safety nets are short: 30 days in the trash, then 25 days for an administrator restore; 20 days to restore a deleted account.
  • Google says so itself: Vault is not designed to be a backup or archiving tool.
  • Include group mailboxes, generic accounts and shared drives.
  • Store outside Google, encrypted, with a non-deletable period, and run test restores.

What is in the domain, and what is not

Google runs the platform. The customer manages accounts, groups, sharing and rules. Vault, available depending on the edition, retains messages and files for legal discovery inside the domain. The Google Vault FAQ puts it plainly: Vault is not designed to be a backup or archiving tool. It is not a copy you can take to another provider, nor a “put Drive back the way it was 40 days ago” button that is independent of the administrators.

The built-in safety nets are short:

SituationPeriod stated by GoogleAfterwards
Gmail message or Drive file in the trash30 daysPermanent deletion
Administrator restore after the trash25 more daysPurged, unrecoverable
User account deleted20 daysData lost

A backup starts where these safety nets end.

Order of implementation

  1. Count the accounts, shared drives and volume. Drive volume drives the bill.
  2. Create tool access to the domain that is as narrow as possible, protected by multi-factor authentication for the administrator.
  3. Include group mailboxes and generic accounts, not just individuals.
  4. Set a frequency (at least daily) and a retention period (30 to 90 days, unless there is a specific reason).
  5. Store outside Google, encrypted, with a non-deletable period. This applies to the cloud the rule set by the ANSSI, France’s national cybersecurity agency: several separate copies, on different media, one of them offline.
  6. Run a test restore of a mailbox and a shared drive folder, then repeat regularly: the ANSSI requires backups to be tested according to a written procedure.

Marketplace applications that store their data on their own platforms are not covered by this list. Identifying them avoids unpleasant surprises (a CRM connected to Google, an e-signature tool, etc.).

Common mistakes

  • Enabling Vault and ticking “backup” in an internal spreadsheet.
  • Backing up Gmail and forgetting shared drives, where the working documents are.
  • Deleting a departed employee’s account without transferring their data, then missing the 20-day window.
  • Relying on Google Drive for desktop sync as the only local copy: depending on the settings, it mirrors the cloud, destruction included.
  • Never restoring.

At WeDoBack

WeDoBack backs up Google Workspace just as it does Microsoft 365 for emails, calendars and contacts: one agent per address, plus storage (SMART or INTEGRAL), encryption before sending with a key held by the customer, and copies kept outside the domain on servers dedicated to backup. Operational details are in Backing up business Gmail. Google Drive is covered too: see Backing up business Google Drive for the method.

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Frequently asked questions

Doesn’t Google Vault act as a backup?

No. The Google Vault FAQ states explicitly that Vault is not designed to be a backup or archiving tool. It retains and searches data for audits or litigation, inside the domain, according to rules set in advance.

What happens when you delete an employee’s account?

The administrator can restore the account for 20 days after it is deleted. After that, Google states that the data is gone and can no longer be restored. Transfer or back up whatever must be kept before deleting.

How long can an administrator recover a deleted email or file?

A message or file stays in the trash for 30 days. After that, the administrator still has 25 days to restore it from the Admin console. Once both periods have passed, Google purges it permanently.

Further reading

Microsoft 365 and Google WorkspaceShould you back up Google Workspace?IT backupHow do you back up Google Workspace?Microsoft 365 and Google WorkspaceDoes Google Workspace really include a backup?IT backupHow do you test that a backup works?

Sources

Documents consulted in October 2026.

  1. Restore a user’s permanently deleted email — Google Workspace Admin Help
  2. Recover deleted files and folders for Drive users — Google Workspace Admin Help
  3. Restore a recently deleted user — Google Workspace Admin Help
  4. Google Vault FAQ — Google Vault Help
  5. Information system backup – The fundamentals (ANSSI-BP-100, v1.1, 27 November 2025, in French) — ANSSI (French agency)
  6. Offers and prices — WeDoBack

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