How to Backup SharePoint Online to Local Storage? Flawlessly

Do you want to backup SharePoint Online to local storage, this is the right blog for you. Here you will find the step-by-step process to save your SharePoint Online files locally.

In today’s technological era, losing data can create severe consequences for businesses. SharePoint Online, being a collaborative and powerful tool is immensely used in organizations at an alarming rate. Despite it being offered by Microsoft, it is not immune to data loss, malicious attacks, and other system issues.

Even as per CBS News, the Microsoft cloud platforms were down almost the whole day. To safeguard your data, following a robust backup strategy is crucial. Let’s take a look at user’s query too.

This step-by-step guide will delve into the cruciality of backing up your SharePoint Online through the different solutions. So, let’s get started.

4 Reasons to Backup Your SharePoint 365 on Your Pc

Although Microsoft is known for its robust security. But having the backup of SharePoint data to your local storage adds an extra layer of security. Explore the below reasons that stimulate users to save the data locally.

• In case of data deletion whether it is intentional or unintentional. Having a local copy of data can help you to recover your data easily.
• Local backup of SharePoint Online also helps to maintain the organization’s compliance.
• Data recovery is seamless in case of natural disasters or cyberattacks.
• It also helps to manage your SharePoint Online storage by downloading the inactive files locally.
• You can restore a deleted SharePoint site if you have its backup in your local storage effortlessly.

Method 1. Backup SharePoint Online to Local Storage Using OneDrive Sync Client

You can use the OneDrive sync client to save the SharePoint document locally. After saving the SharePoint files locally, you can access them from the File Explorer. So, now

1. Sign in to the SharePoint account.
2. Open the Site Library that you want to sync.
3. Hit the Sync button.
4. Click on Sync now in the opened prompt.
5. You can open the Show my files… from the wizard to open the synced library in File Explorer.

This method is not a long-term solution to backup. After a while, you need to remove some old files from OneDrive because of storage issues. Additionally, it is a manual process that can be forgotten in several situations.

Method 2. Use PowerShell Script to Backup SharePoint 365

You can use the WebDav approach to backup SharePoint Online to local storage. Provide the essential parameters in the below script and execute it. Through this script, you can copy all files including libraries, lists, and subsites. This is one of the widely used SharePoint Online backup options. But make sure you are well-versed in the PowerShell scripts to get the expected results.

$Download_Path= "d:\Downloads\SharePointOnline"
$webDavUrl = "entere here”

#Create a Local Folder if it doesn't exist
If(!(Test-Path $Download_Path))
{
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $Download_Path | Out-Null
}

#Get All files from the Site and backup them to a local folder
Get-ChildItem -Path $webDavUrl -Recurse | ForEach-Object {
$Destination_Path = Join-Path -Path $Download_Path -ChildPath (Split-Path $_.FullName -NoQualifier).Replace($webDavUrl,'');

Copy-Item $_.FullName -Destination $Destination_Path -Force

Write-host -f Green “Files are successfully copied to the $Destination_Path”
}

Method 3. Download All Files to Backup SharePoint Online to Local Storage

If you only want to backup some files from the document library, then you can download each file individually. You can also copy it into the other external hard drive for future reference. Because it is a manual approach and requires a lot of time. Due to this, most of the admins avoid this process. But still, if you want to use this then, execute the below steps.

1. Open SharePoint Online with the appropriate credentials.
2. Move to the Document Library from where you want to backup the files.
3. Select the file, and press right-click.
4. Press the Download button to backup your SharePoint lists and libraries to local storage.

Using all of these approaches, you can backup SharePoint Online to local storage. However, managing local storage is also a difficult task, which requires additional cost and regular monitoring.

So, as an alternative solution, if you want to backup your SharePoint data but to the cloud itself, then you can copy document library to another SharePoint site. Let’s see how to do this.

Method 4. Backup Your SharePoint Online Account to Another Account

For efficiently completing the backup of your SharePoint Online account to the cloud platform. You can use the Most Reliable SharePoint Migration Software. It is designed and developed in such a way that even non-IT users can accomplish the task. Here you will get all the essential advanced features to simplify your backup process. Below are the steps to backup SharePoint 365 to another SharePoint account.

Step 1. Download the tool on your machine. Activate it and start providing the details.

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Step 2. Provide both Source and Destination platforms as Office 365.

Step 3. Click on the Sites option from the workload section. Apply the integrated Date filter for filtering of sites.

Step 4. Now, add the credentials of the Source and Destination account. After that, validate them and move to the next step.

Step 5. Load the Sites and Users into the tool by choosing the suitable option among Import Users or Download template to manually add the users.

Step 6. Finally, click on the Start Migration button to backup your SharePoint account to another SharePoint account.

Final Words

In this detailed write-up, we have elaborated on the different methods to backup SharePoint Online to local storage. You can use the best one as per your requirements. However, relying on the local storage is not a good practice. So, you can also backup your SharePoint data to another SharePoint account for robust data security if required.

FAQ’s

Q1. Can I use the PowerShell commands to backup my SharePoint Online locally?

A – Yes, you can use PowerShell to store all the SharePoint files locally by implementing the above-explained commands. But use this method only if have expertise in the PowerShell commands.

Q2. How to Download the documents from the SharePoint document library?

A  – For downloading the SharePoint documents locally, you need to:-

1. Open the Document Library.
2. Select the file that you want to download.
3. Press right-click on it and then Download.

Q3. Can I move SharePoint files to another account as a backup?

A – Yes, you can migrate SharePoint list to another site or tenant to store and access them whenever required. . 

Q4. How do I use OneDrive sync to store SharePoint files locally?

A – You just need to open the SharePoint document library and hit the sync button.