Docs/Server Backup/Outlook Backup

Outlook & Exchange Backup

Back up Outlook data files (PST/OST), emails, contacts, calendars, and Exchange mailboxes.

Overview

BackupEngine protects your email data at multiple levels. On desktop machines, it backs up Outlook data files (PST and OST). On servers running Microsoft Exchange, it provides mailbox-level and database-level backup with granular restore capabilities.

•Outlook PST/OST files: Automatically detected and included in desktop backups.
•Exchange database backup: Full and incremental backup of Exchange mailbox databases using VSS.
•Granular restore: Recover individual emails, contacts, calendar items, or entire mailboxes.
•Outlook PST backup is available on all plans. Exchange backup requires a Server plan.

Outlook Data File Backup (PST/OST)

BackupEngine automatically detects Outlook PST and OST files in their default locations and includes them in your backup. These files can be large and change frequently, but BackupEngine's content-defined chunking ensures only modified portions are uploaded.

•Default locations are scanned automatically: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\ and Documents\Outlook Files\.
•Custom PST file locations can be added to any backup set manually.
•OST files (cached Exchange data) are backed up for offline access recovery.
•BackupEngine handles open file backup — Outlook does not need to be closed during the backup.
•PST files are chunked and deduplicated, so daily backups of large PST files are fast and storage-efficient.

Back up Outlook files via CLI

# Verify Outlook files are detected
backupengine scan outlook

# Add a custom PST location
backupengine backup-set add-folder "Email Backup" \
  --path "D:\Archives\OldEmail.pst"

# Restore a PST file
backupengine restore file \
  --backup-set "Email Backup" \
  --path "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst" \
  --destination "D:\Recovered\"

💡 Tip

If your Outlook PST file is very large (over 10 GB), consider archiving old emails into separate PST files. This improves both Outlook performance and backup efficiency, since the main PST will change less between runs.

Exchange Server Backup

For organizations running Microsoft Exchange Server, BackupEngine provides database-level backup with application-aware VSS integration. This ensures transactional consistency and enables log truncation.

•Supports Exchange Server 2016 and 2019.
•Uses the Exchange VSS Writer for consistent database snapshots.
•Transaction logs are truncated after a successful backup, preventing log volume exhaustion.
•Supports Database Availability Groups (DAG) — back up from the passive copy to reduce load on the active database.
•Schedule full backups weekly and incremental (log) backups every 1-4 hours.

Exchange backup via CLI

# Full backup of all Exchange databases
backupengine exchange backup --type full

# Incremental (log) backup
backupengine exchange backup --type incremental

# Back up from DAG passive copy
backupengine exchange backup --type full --prefer-passive

Granular Mailbox Restore

BackupEngine allows you to restore individual mailbox items without restoring the entire Exchange database. Browse the backed-up mailbox in the restore interface and select specific items.

•Restore individual emails by subject, date, sender, or folder.
•Restore contacts, calendar appointments, and tasks.
•Restore an entire mailbox to the original or a different user.
•Export restored items to PST format for review before importing back to Exchange.
•Point-in-time restore lets you recover a mailbox as it existed at a specific moment.

⚠ Warning

Granular restore from an Exchange database backup requires the Exchange Management Shell to be available on the server running the restore. The agent uses it to mount the recovery database and extract items.

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