Microsoft 365 Backup to add file-level restore for faster recovery

Microsoft will soon begin rolling out a significant upgrade to Microsoft 365 Backup to speed up recovery by allowing administrators to restore individual files and folders.

Microsoft 365 Backup is a SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange backup and restore service designed to protect against data loss from ransomware, accidental deletion, or data corruption.

Until now, Microsoft 365 Backup worked at the site or drive level, with a single corrupted or deleted file triggering a time-consuming full restore. With the new granular restore capabilities, admins can browse and search existing restore points for protected SharePoint sites and OneDrive accounts, then select only the specific files or folders they need to recover.

The feature is available exclusively to tenants with Microsoft 365 Backup already enabled and can only be used by admins assigned the SharePoint Backup Administrator role. End users are not directly affected by this change, as restore operations will only be initiated by admins and will be invisible to the user experience.

“Microsoft 365 Backup will enable admins to browse, search, and restore individual files or folders from SharePoint and OneDrive restore points starting early 2026,” Microsoft said in a Thursday message center update.

“This granular restore reduces recovery time, requires the SharePoint Backup Administrator role, and respects existing backup policies without impacting users.”

Microsoft 365 Backup to add file-level restore for faster recovery — *Microsoft 365 Backup granular restore (Microsoft)*

The feature has entered public preview in early March 2026 and is expected to reach general availability worldwide between late April and early May 2026.

Before the rollout reaches their tenants, Microsoft advises customers to review Microsoft 365 Backup coverage for SharePoint and OneDrive, ensure backup administrators are familiar with the granular restore workflow, and update internal recovery runbooks to account for file- and folder-level restore scenarios.

“This feature introduces a new method for admins to access existing Microsoft 365 Backup restore points at a more granular level (file or folder), without changing where or how backup data is stored,” Microsoft added. “Admins gain finer control to restore specific files or folders containing personal data when responding to recovery, correction, or remediation scenarios.”

Last month, Microsoft also expanded Windows Backup for Organizations, an enterprise-grade backup tool that helps simplify backups, to allow enterprise users to restore personal settings and Microsoft Store apps from a previous Windows 11 device.