How to Configure Granular File Recovery in Microsoft 365 Backup

Before configuring granular file recovery, confirm your tenant has the necessary licensing and permissions. Navigate to the Microsoft 365 admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com and sign in with your administrator account.

Go to Billing > Your products and verify Microsoft 365 Backup licenses are assigned. The license covers Exchange Online, OneDrive, and SharePoint backup capabilities.

Check your role assignments by navigating to Roles > Role assignments. Ensure you have the SharePoint Backup Administrator role assigned. This is crucial because end-users cannot initiate granular restores - only administrators with this specific role can perform the operations.

Navigate to the Microsoft 365 Backup page in the admin center. Here you'll create or modify protection policies that define backup frequency and retention periods for your SharePoint sites and OneDrive accounts.

Click Create policy or select an existing policy to modify. Configure the following settings:

• Policy name: Use descriptive names like "SharePoint-Daily-1Year" or "OneDrive-Executive-Backup"
• Backup frequency: Choose between daily, weekly, or custom schedules
• Retention period: Set up to 1 year retention (365 days maximum)
• Scope: Select specific SharePoint sites or OneDrive accounts to include

For PowerShell management, install and connect to Microsoft Graph:

Install-Module Microsoft.Graph -Force
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Policy.Read.All", "Policy.ReadWrite.All"
Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreProtectionPolicy

As of March 2026, granular file recovery is in public preview and scheduled for general availability between late April and early May 2026. To access preview features, navigate to Settings > Org settings > Services in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Look for Microsoft 365 Backup in the services list and click to open settings. Enable any preview features related to granular restore if available. The feature may also be automatically enabled for tenants with existing Microsoft 365 Backup.

Check the Message Center (Health > Message center) for announcement MC1245216 regarding granular restore availability. This message contains specific rollout timelines for your tenant.

Alternatively, verify feature availability by navigating to the Microsoft 365 Backup page and looking for Restore options under both OneDrive and SharePoint sections. If you see options for "Selected content only" during restore workflows, the granular feature is active.

To recover specific files from OneDrive without restoring entire accounts, start in the Microsoft 365 admin center at the Microsoft 365 Backup page. Click the OneDrive section, then select Restore.

On the "Select type of content" page, choose OneDrive accounts and click Next. Select the specific OneDrive accounts that contain the files you need to recover. You can search by user name or email address.

Choose your restore point by selecting a date and time. Remember that the system restores from the closest backup point prior to your selected time. For example, selecting 9:00 AM will restore from the 8:00 AM backup if that's the nearest prior point.

On the "Content scope" page, select Selected content only to enable granular restore. Use the filtering options to narrow down your search:

• Keywords: Search for specific file names or content
• File type: Filter by document types (.docx, .xlsx, .pdf, etc.)
• Date range: Specify when files were created or modified
• Folder path: Browse specific folder structures

Browse through the restore point contents, select individual files or folders, and preview them if needed. Click Restore to complete the recovery.

For SharePoint document recovery, navigate to Microsoft 365 Backup > SharePoint > Restore in the admin center. The process is similar to OneDrive but includes additional site-specific options.

Select SharePoint sites on the content type page, then choose the specific sites containing the documents you need to recover. You can search by site name or URL to quickly locate the correct SharePoint site.

Choose your restore point date and time, keeping in mind the closest prior backup point rule. For SharePoint, this is particularly important because document libraries may have frequent updates throughout the day.

On the content scope page, select Selected content only and use SharePoint-specific filters:

• Document library: Filter by specific libraries within the site
• List name: Target specific SharePoint lists
• Author: Filter by document creator or last modifier
• Content type: Filter by SharePoint content types
• Metadata: Search using custom column values

Navigate through the site structure in the restore interface. You'll see the familiar SharePoint folder hierarchy, making it easy to locate specific documents or folders.

# Optional: Use PowerShell to check restore job status
Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreRestoreJob | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"}

Select the specific documents or folders you need, preview them to confirm versions, then click Restore. Choose whether to overwrite existing files or restore to a different location if the option is available.

Fine-tune your granular restore capabilities by configuring advanced options in the Microsoft 365 Backup settings. Navigate to Microsoft 365 Backup > Settings to access policy configuration options.

Configure restore behavior policies:

• Overwrite policy: Define whether restored files should overwrite existing versions or create copies
• Permissions preservation: Ensure restored files maintain original SharePoint permissions and sharing settings
• Metadata retention: Configure whether custom metadata and content types are preserved during restore
• Version handling: Set policies for how multiple file versions are handled during granular restore

Set up notification preferences for restore operations. Configure email notifications for administrators when granular restore jobs complete, fail, or require attention.

Use PowerShell to create custom restore policies for different scenarios:

# Create a custom restore policy
$restorePolicy = @{
    Name = "GranularRestorePolicy"
    OverwriteExisting = $true
    PreservePermissions = $true
    NotifyOnCompletion = $true
    RetainVersionHistory = $true
}

# Apply policy to specific SharePoint sites
Set-MgSolutionBackupRestorePolicy -PolicyId $policyId -Settings $restorePolicy

Establish monitoring procedures for your granular restore operations to ensure successful recovery and identify issues quickly. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to Microsoft 365 Backup > Restore history to view all restore operations.

Monitor restore job status using both the admin center interface and PowerShell:

# Check all restore jobs from the last 7 days
$startDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-7)
Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreRestoreJob | Where-Object {$_.CreatedDateTime -gt $startDate} | Select-Object Id, Status, CreatedDateTime, CompletedDateTime

# Get detailed information about a specific restore job
Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreRestoreJob -RestoreJobId "your-job-id" | Format-List

Common troubleshooting scenarios and solutions:

• Restore point not found: Verify the selected date/time falls within your retention period (up to 1 year)
• Files not appearing: Check that backup policies were active during the timeframe of the files you're trying to restore
• Permission errors: Ensure you have SharePoint Backup Administrator role and necessary site permissions
• Partial restore failures: Review individual file errors in the restore job details

Set up automated monitoring using PowerShell scripts that can run on a schedule:

# Monitor for failed restore jobs and send alerts
$failedJobs = Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreRestoreJob | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Failed"}
if ($failedJobs) {
    # Send notification or log alert
    Write-Host "Found $($failedJobs.Count) failed restore jobs" -ForegroundColor Red
    $failedJobs | Format-Table Id, CreatedDateTime, ErrorMessage
}

Establish best practices for granular restore operations to ensure efficient and reliable file recovery. Create standardized procedures that your team can follow during recovery scenarios.

Document common restore scenarios and create templates:

• Accidental file deletion: Standard procedure for recovering recently deleted files
• Ransomware recovery: Process for identifying and restoring clean file versions
• Version rollback: Steps for restoring previous versions of modified documents
• Bulk recovery: Procedures for recovering multiple files or folders efficiently

Create PowerShell scripts to automate common restore tasks:

# Automated script for restoring files deleted in the last 24 hours
param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$SiteUrl,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$LibraryName
)

# Connect to Microsoft Graph
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Sites.ReadWrite.All", "Policy.ReadWrite.All"

# Get the most recent backup point
$backupPoint = Get-MgSolutionBackupRestoreBackupPoint | 
    Where-Object {$_.SiteUrl -eq $SiteUrl} | 
    Sort-Object CreatedDateTime -Descending | 
    Select-Object -First 1

# Initiate granular restore for the specified library
Start-MgSolutionBackupRestoreGranularRestore -BackupPointId $backupPoint.Id -LibraryName $LibraryName

Implement regular testing and validation procedures:

• Monthly restore tests: Perform test restores to verify backup integrity
• Recovery time objectives: Measure and document typical restore completion times
• User training: Educate users on when to request granular restore vs. self-service recovery options
• Documentation updates: Keep restore procedures current as Microsoft releases updates

Set up integration with your existing IT service management (ITSM) system to track restore requests and automate common workflows.