#Backup Data eDiscovery

In the Backup data e-discovery page, you can perform both metadata-based and content-based searches for Exchange Online, OneDrive, and SharePoint Online. After you have found the backup data you want, you can perform a data recovery, exportation, or deletion job directly from the search result page. To enable this feature, contact AvePoint Support. Note that an additional cost is required.

If you previously enabled metadata-based search and now want to upgrade your e-discovery capabilities to include content-based search, contact AvePoint Support to upgrade your subscription and an additional cost is required.

Follow the steps below to search for the emails and perform the operation you need:

1. To enable this feature for the first time, click the Activate services button.

2. Select Exchange Online, OneDrive, or SharePoint Online service to search for your backup data.

3. Configure search conditions based on your selected service:

   • For Exchange Online, configure the search conditions for Subject, Sent from, Sent to, Date sent, and Source service.

     • You can enter multiple keywords in the Subject box and separate them with a semicolon (;).

     • The Sent from box and the Sent to box also support entering multiple users. Ensure you use a semicolon (;) to separate them.

     • The Exclude option is available under the fields to exclude specific subjects, senders, or recipients.

     • The time range you configured for Date sent cannot exceed one year. The search will find the emails that were sent or received within that time range.

     • You can select Source service from Exchange Online, Teams, and Microsoft 365 Groups.

   • You can also use the Advanced search to narrow down results by filtering the container, mailbox address, folder name, Cc, Bcc, or whether the email has attachments. For emails with attachments, you can further refine your search by specifying the attachment type and name.

   Note the following:

   • The Cc and Bcc fields support searching by full email address, user name, or domain name.

   • The Attachment type and Attachment name fields apply only to backup data after the February 2026 release. To use these two fields to search for certain earlier backup data, contact the Support team.

   • The Attachment type field supports the following types:

     • Document: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, .odt

     • Spreadsheet: .xls, .xlsx, .csv, .numbers, .ods

     • Videos .mp4, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .m4v, .webm

     • Image: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tiff, .bmp, .svg, .heic, .heif

     • Presentation: .ppt, .pptx, .key

     • Archive: .zip, .7z, .rar, .sitx

     • Audio: .mp3, .wav, .m4a

   • For file types not supported by the Attachment type field, you can search by file extension directly in the Attachment name field. For example, entering .html will return all attachments with the .html extension.

• For OneDrive, configure the search conditions for Document name, Content, Created by, and Modified date range.

  • The following document types with a file size limit of less than 50 MB are supported:

    • Email: .msg, .eml

    • Word: .doc, .docx, .docm, .dot, .dotx, .odt

    • PowerPoint: .ppt, .pptx, .pptm, .pps, .pot, .odp

    • Excel: .xls, .xlsx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlt, .ods

    • HTML: .html, .htm, .aspx

    • Text / Scripts / Code: .txt, .csv, .xml, .hta, .acx, .asp, .css, .htx, .jhtml, .rss, .stm, .url, .c, .cpp, .h, .bat, .jsp, .php, .asm, .cxx, .def

    • Visio: .vdw, .vdx, .vsd, .vsdm, .vsdx, .vss, .vssm, .vssx, .vst, .vstm, .vstx, .vsx, .vtx

    • .rtf, .pdf, .xps, .zip

  • The following characters are not supported for search: +, -, &, ||, !, ( ), { }, [ ], ^, ", :, , /.

  • The search primarily supports English queries and has limitations for other languages.

  • Documents that have sensitive labels with encrypted data are not supported and cannot be found by Content search.

• You can also use the Advanced search to narrow down results by filtering container, user, folder name, data size or document modifier.

• For SharePoint Online, configure the search conditions for Document name, Created by, Date modified, and Source service.

  • When restoring attachments for list items, the corresponding list items will also be restored.

  • You can select Source service from SharePoint Online, Teams, Microsoft 365 Groups, and Viva Engage.

• You can also use the Advanced search to narrow down results by filtering container, site URL, folder name, document size or document modifier.

4. Click Search.

5. On the search result page, the search results in the latest backup cycle are displayed. The search results can display a maximum of 2000 items. You can click the link above the table to check the search result in another backup cycle. In addition, you can update the search conditions to adjust your search results.

6. You can perform the following operations on the emails in the search result:

   • Download file list – Download the search results to an XLSX file on your local computer. Extract the ZIP file and open the XLSX file in Excel to view all the records in the search results, including the email subject, recovery point, sent from, and sent to.

   • Restore – Restore the email to its original location. For details, refer to Restore Exchange Online Data.

   • Export – Export the selected backup data. An export job will start. You can navigate to Job Monitor to check for the job progress and download the exported content. For details, refer to Download the Exported Data.

   • Delete – Delete the selected backup data. In the confirmation window, you need to select the I understand that the selected backup data will be permanently deleted option and click Yes to confirm your deletion.