Microsoft 365 Backup Tool — Zero-Knowledge
Back up Teams, OneDrive, Exchange, SharePoint, Planner, and Bookings from Microsoft 365 with zero-knowledge encryption. Free for personal use.
Quick answer
Microsoft's Microsoft 365 retention uses soft-delete windows of 30 to 93 days depending on workload, not a true backup. A backup is an offline copy the admin controls, and three integrated tools here cover communications, files and productivity with client-side encryption so data never sits on a vendor server. Restore is a manual admin operation, not a one-click vendor restore portal.
FAQ
Does Microsoft 365 already back up my data?
No. Microsoft's Service Level Agreement covers infrastructure availability and short-term retention (deleted items, recycle bins) — not long-term backup. If a user permanently deletes a file, an admin removes a mailbox, or ransomware encrypts content, Microsoft cannot restore it after the retention window. You're responsible for your own backup, which is why third-party Microsoft 365 backup tools exist.
How is GTools.pro different from Veeam, Datto, or AvePoint?
Those vendors store your backup data on their cloud — meaning your tenant content sits on their servers and a breach exposes it. GTools.pro is zero-knowledge: data streams from Microsoft Graph directly into your browser, gets encrypted client-side, and saves to your local storage or your own object storage. We never see, store, or process your tenant content.
What can I back up?
Communications: Teams chats, channel messages, meeting recordings, email, calendars, contacts. Files: OneDrive personal drives and SharePoint document libraries with full folder structure, version history, and metadata. Productivity: Planner plans and tasks, To Do lists, Bookings appointments. Native export formats include ICS for calendars, VCF for contacts, Markdown for chats, plus JSON, CSV, Excel, and ZIP archives.
Can I do incremental backups?
Yes. Communication Backup uses Microsoft Graph delta queries, so subsequent runs only fetch new and changed messages. Files Backup uses delta sync to skip files that haven’t changed since the last run. This makes day-after-day backups fast and bandwidth-efficient.
Is the Free plan enough for personal backup?
Yes — the Free plan gives you all three Personal Backup tools (Communication, Files, Productivity) for one tenant connection, with full export functionality and zero-knowledge encryption. Paid plans add organization-wide access (admin consent) so you can back up other users' data, plus extra tenant connections for MSPs.
How we compare
How do you compare to Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365?
Veeam stores backup data in Azure under Veeam-managed encryption by default; BYOK requires a separate Azure Key Vault setup. gtools.pro encrypts client-side before any data reaches a server, and on the Desktop edition the backup data never leaves your machine at all. Source: Veeam BYOK documentation.
Can I just use Microsoft’s own backup?
Microsoft 365 Backup (GA July 2024, $0.15/GB/month) covers Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint with a fixed one-year retention window. It does not cover Teams chat, Microsoft manages keys by default, and backup data is not eDiscoverable. gtools.pro covers Teams chat, supports configurable retention, and keeps keys client-side.
Where is my backup data stored?
Desktop edition: on your own machine, never leaves. Cloud edition: encrypted on your device before upload; server stores ciphertext only. Every competitor in the table above stores backup data on their own cloud.
What happens if gtools.pro shuts down?
Your 24-word BIP39 recovery phrase derives the decryption key locally; no vendor copy of the key exists. Vendors that hold keys (Veeam default, Barracuda, Datto) require the vendor to remain operational for decryption.
Does gtools.pro back up Teams chat?
Yes. Microsoft’s native M365 Backup does not. Veeam covers Teams but requires opt-in for channel posts.
Is gtools.pro suitable for compliance-sensitive industries?
The server never decrypts your data, which materially reduces the shared-responsibility scope. Consult your compliance team for specific regulatory requirements — we provide the architectural primitives but make no certification claims.
Does the backup work on a Mac?
Yes — gtools.pro Desktop ships as a Mac Universal binary. Most competitors (Veeam, Barracuda, Datto, Spanning) are SaaS-only with no desktop installation at all.
What does BYOK with Veeam actually buy me?
BYOK lets you host keys in your Azure Key Vault, but Veeam still processes your backup data during each cycle on Veeam infrastructure. The data is decryptable on Veeam servers in plaintext during the backup pass.