How to Backup SharePoint Online to Azure — A Complete Guide for Businesses

Backing up SharePoint Online to Azure means using Azure Backup, a third-party backup solution, or Microsoft''s own backup tools to create independent copies of your SharePoint Online data that can be restored to a specific point in time — independent of Microsoft''s native retention policies. Microsoft does not back up SharePoint Online by default in the way most businesses expect, and understanding the gap is critical before a data loss event occurs.

What Microsoft includes for SharePoint Online — and what it doesn''t

Microsoft gives you three native protections. The recycle bin holds deleted items for 93 days in the first stage, then a further 93 days in the site collection second-stage bin. Version history is configured per document library and typically keeps up to 500 versions of each file. Retention policies in Microsoft Purview let you preserve or dispose of content on a schedule for compliance purposes.

What those tools do not cover is the failure mode most businesses actually face. Ransomware that encrypts SharePoint content writes new versions rather than deleting files — Defender for Office 365 helps detect and contain it, but it is not a backup. Accidental deletion discovered after the recycle bin window has passed is unrecoverable. Corruption events propagate through version history because every bad save becomes a new version. And there is no clean point-in-time recovery to a specific date before a data quality issue.

The distinction matters: Microsoft''s native tooling is built for compliance and everyday accidental deletion — not disaster recovery or ransomware recovery. Most businesses that suffer a SharePoint data loss event discover this gap after the event, not before.

Three options for backing up SharePoint Online to Azure

Option 1 — Microsoft 365 Backup. Microsoft''s own paid backup service, launched in 2024 and configured from the Microsoft 365 admin centre. It backs up SharePoint, OneDrive and Exchange to Microsoft-managed storage with point-in-time restore accurate to within 10 seconds, priced at roughly $0.15 per GB per month.

Option 2 — third-party backup storing to Azure Blob. Veeam, Acronis, Druva and AvePoint connect to Microsoft 365 through the Graph API and write backup data into an Azure Storage account inside your own subscription. You keep full control of the backup data, the retention schedule and the encryption keys.

Option 3 — Azure Backup agent on Windows Server. For hybrid environments running SharePoint Server on-premise alongside SharePoint Online, the Azure Backup agent protects the on-premise farm and its content databases.

For most SMBs, Microsoft 365 Backup or a third-party solution writing to Azure is the right call. Mycelium 365 recommends and configures all three depending on how complex the environment is.

How to configure Azure Blob Storage for Microsoft 365 backup

At a high level, the build looks like this. Create an Azure Storage Account in Australia East (or your preferred region — New Zealand North for NZ businesses). Choose geo-redundant storage (GRS) so a regional failure does not take the backup with it. Create a Blob container dedicated to backup data. Configure access for the backup application using either a scoped SAS token or, preferably, a managed identity. Apply retention and immutable storage policies on the container — immutability is what stops an attacker with stolen credentials from deleting your backups, and it is the single most important control here. Finally, connect the third-party backup product to the container using the storage account connection string or identity.

On cost, Azure Blob Storage runs approximately $0.018–$0.023 per GB per month for LRS and $0.035–$0.046 per GB per month for GRS. For a 100GB SharePoint environment that is roughly $1.80–$4.60 per month in storage, plus the backup software licence.

Microsoft 365 Backup vs third-party backup to Azure — which is right for your business

Microsoft 365 Backup is simpler. Everything is configured in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, there is no Azure subscription to manage, storage is handled by Microsoft, and restores are accurate to within 10 seconds. The limitation is that your backup lives inside Microsoft''s infrastructure — if Microsoft has a significant service event, access to the backup may be affected at the same time as access to the production data.

Third-party backup to Azure is more work. You need an Azure subscription, a storage account and a licence. In return, the backup data sits in your own tenancy, independent of Microsoft''s platform, with far more flexible retention and full portability.

For most SMBs the decision comes down to simplicity versus independence. Microsoft 365 Backup is the right answer for the majority. Third-party backup to Azure is better for regulated industries and any business that needs demonstrable sovereignty over its backup copies.

How Mycelium 365 configures Microsoft 365 backup for Australian and New Zealand businesses

We start with a review of what is actually protected today — recycle bin settings, version limits, Purview retention and any existing backup product — then map that against your recovery point and recovery time objectives. From there we deploy either Microsoft 365 Backup or a third-party solution writing to an immutable Azure Blob container in Australia East or New Zealand North, and we test restores rather than assuming they work. Backup is delivered as part of our managed Azure backup service and sits alongside our broader managed Azure engagements. If you want the current state assessed, get in touch.

Related reading: Azure Virtual Desktop security checklist and business continuity planning with Microsoft 365 and Azure.