Hosting and data
Is OneDrive a backup? The difference between syncing and backing up
Short answer
No, OneDrive is not a backup. OneDrive syncs: what you change or delete on your laptop is changed or deleted in the cloud as well. That protects you against a broken laptop, not against a mistake, a malicious colleague or ransomware. The recycle bin and version history give a safety net of some weeks to months. A backup is a separate copy in another place, independent of what happens to the original.
What exactly does syncing do?
Syncing keeps two places identical. Save a file in the OneDrive folder on your laptop and a moment later it is in the cloud as well. Open it on another computer and you get the same version.
That is handy, and it is why a stolen laptop is no longer a disaster. But “keeping identical” works in both directions and for every change. Delete a folder and it is gone everywhere. Overwrite a quote with the wrong version and the right one is overwritten everywhere.
Syncing makes no difference between a deliberate change and a mistake.
What can you still restore without a backup?
More than you might think, but with a sell-by date.
| What happened | Safety net in Microsoft 365 | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| File deleted by accident | Recycle bin | 93 days |
| File overwritten | Version history | As long as versions are kept |
| Many files damaged at once | Restore OneDrive to an earlier point | 30 days back |
| Account of a departed employee deleted | OneDrive stays for a while | 30 days by default |
For the everyday slip this is enough. Someone throws something away, notices the same week and puts it back.
Where does the safety net end?
At anything you find late or that happens on purpose.
The late discovery. A folder of old project files was thrown away during a clear-out. Nobody misses it until a client asks for it nine months later.
The departed colleague. The account has been cleared up, the licence cancelled. After the retention period the OneDrive is gone, with the only copy of some important documents in it. How to prevent that is covered in employee leaving.
The hijacked account. Anyone who can sign in as the user can empty the recycle bin and delete versions. The safety net sits in the same environment as the original, behind the same login.
The provider itself. It rarely happens, but an error or outage on the provider’s side hits the original and the safety net at the same time. Microsoft itself says that the service is their responsibility and the data is yours.
What does a backup do differently?
A backup is a copy that does not move along. It is made at a set moment, kept in another place and does not change afterwards.
- Separate from the original. Deleting in OneDrive deletes nothing in the backup.
- With another party. A problem at Microsoft or a hijacked account does not touch the copy.
- With a retention period you choose. Months or years, for example to match the Dutch tax retention period (seven years).
- Restorable by part. One file, one folder, or everything of one user.
And a backup that has never been restored from is an assumption. That is why a restore test belongs with it.
Does a small office really need this?
Ask yourself one question: what does it cost if the folder with current client files is gone tomorrow and the recycle bin turns out to be empty?
For most offices the answer is days of work and a few painful phone calls with clients. A backup of Microsoft 365 is then a small item next to the licences. We set it up as a Microsoft 365 backup: daily, outside Microsoft, with a test to check that restoring works.
If you do not work with Microsoft 365 but with a NAS or your own server, the same principle applies. Two disks that mirror each other are syncing too. More on that under backup and recovery and in backups for small businesses.