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Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Does Google Workspace really include a backup of your data?
No. In its standard editions, Google Workspace does not include a backup that would let you restore Gmail or Drive to a chosen date from a copy held outside the domain. It includes a redundant platform, bins, a restore window for deleted accounts and, depending on the edition, Google Vault for legal retention and search.
Key points
- Gmail and Drive bin: 30 days, then 25 days of administrator restore, then purge.
- Deleted account: restorable for 20 days, after which the data is lost.
- Google Vault: Google’s FAQ states that it is not designed to be a backup or archiving tool.
- Many companies need Vault and a backup, and believe they only have one of the two.
What the subscription includes
| Feature | Actual role | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Google redundancy | The service keeps running if Google infrastructure fails | It also replicates your deletions |
| Drive bin | Recover a recently erased file | 30 days, then permanent deletion |
| Gmail bin | Recover a recent deletion on the user side | 30 days |
| Administrator restore | Bring back emails or files after the bin | 25 days, then an unrecoverable purge |
| Restoring a deleted user | Reinstate the account and its data | 20 days, after which the data is lost |
| Google Vault | Retain and search emails and files for an audit or litigation, if the edition includes it and a rule exists | Stays within the domain, under the admins; Google states it is not designed as a backup tool |
| Drive for desktop | Work offline and sync | Can propagate encryption or a deletion |
No row in this table is a dated copy held by a separate provider and tested by you.
Microsoft sells a paid backup separately, Microsoft 365 Backup. The Google documentation consulted for this page presents no equivalent for Workspace: its recovery tools stop at the periods above. If that changes, the question to ask will be the same as for Microsoft. Does the data stay only with Google, and who can erase that backup?
Why the confusion is common
“Our data is in Google’s cloud, so it is backed up.” The sentence confuses availability with history. The cloud spares you the disk failure on the mail server you no longer have. It does not spare you the shared drive emptied by mistake in July and needed in September, after the bin and the administrator restore window.
Vault adds to the confusion because the word “archiving” appears in the brochures. Yet Google itself states, in the Vault FAQ, that the tool is not designed to be a backup or an archive. Compliance archiving retains what a rule has designated. It does not get the company back up and running on Monday morning.
When is Vault enough?
If you only need to prove that a message existed, and the Vault rule was active beforehand, Vault may be enough for that proof. If you need to work on the folders again on Monday, you need a backup, or another source for the files. Many companies need both, and believe they have only one.
| Need | Vault | Backup outside the domain |
|---|---|---|
| Prove that a message existed | Yes, if the rule existed beforehand | Yes, within the retention period |
| Return a shared drive to its state of two months ago | No | Yes |
| Survive the deletion of an account beyond 20 days | Depending on the rule set | Yes |
| Copy held outside Google | No | Yes |
At WeDoBack
WeDoBack provides the copy outside the domain for email, calendars, contacts and Google Drive, encrypted before it is sent, with the key held by the customer, one agent per address plus the stored volume, with SMART or INTEGRAL. It is a backup in the sense of this page. It is not Vault, and it is not included in the Google licence. A company whose memory lives in shared drives has them listed in the quotation. In all cases, Google remains responsible for the platform, and the customer remains responsible for having verified a restore.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Vault a backup?
No. To the question of whether Vault can be used as a backup, the Google Vault FAQ answers: “Vault isn’t designed to be a backup or archive tool”. Vault retains and searches data for an audit or litigation, within the domain, according to rules set in advance.
How long does Google keep a deleted email?
Thirty days in the user’s bin. After that, the administrator has 25 more days to restore it from the console. Once both periods have passed, the message is permanently deleted.
Does Google offer a paid backup option like Microsoft 365 Backup?
The Google documentation consulted presents the bin, administrator restore, account restore and Vault, but no comparable dated backup product. If that changes, ask the same questions: where are the copies, for how long, and who can erase them?
Further reading
Sources
Documents consulted in October 2026.
- Google Vault FAQ — Google Vault Help
- Restore a user’s permanently deleted email — Google Workspace Admin Help
- Restore a recently deleted user — Google Workspace Admin Help
- Recover deleted files and folders for Drive users — Google Workspace Admin Help
- Offers and prices — WeDoBack
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