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10 - Google Drive Backup, Restore, and Download

Doug Chanin
Doug Chanin
  • Updated

Topic

This article explains how to back up your Google Drive (GDrive) and restore or download those backups.

Environment

Dropsuite

Description

For Google Drive, you can perform the following actions:

  • Restore the entire user's Google Drive, a single folder, or a single file.
  • Perform a point-in-time restore, retrieving data from any date since the backup began.
  • Restore data to the same user's Drive or another user's Drive within the same tenant.

Select a topic to continue:

Manage Google Workspace Tenant Backups

If you've already backed up your Google Workspace tenant, you can view a list of mailboxes on the Account tab. This page displays icons for mailboxes and sub-products (Google Drive, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks) in blue, red, or gray. These colors indicate their backup state:

  • Blue: Available for backup
  • Red: Excluded from backup
  • Gray: Added to backup
Figure 1: Mailbox list (click to enlarge)

Add a Mailbox to Backup While Excluding Google Drive

With modular backup, you can include a mailbox and other sub-products while excluding Google Drive. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the End-User Portal.
  2. From the Dashboard page, click +Add Backup.
  3. Select the backed-up Google Workspace tenant.
  4. Choose the account from which you want to exclude Google Drive and click Exclude.
Figure 2: Google Workspace tenants (click to enlarge)
  1. In the exclusion confirmation modal, select GDrive from the Sub-Product drop-down menu and click Yes, Continue.
Figure 3: Exclusion list (click to enlarge)
  1. You'll be redirected to the Google Workspace page. Select the same account and click +Add Backup.
  2. In the add-to-backup confirmation modal, ensure the GDrive toggle is inactive, then click Yes, Continue.
  3. Once successful, the Google Drive icon will appear red, indicating exclusion, while other sub-products remain gray.
Figure 4: Exclusions (click to enlarge)

Manage AutoDiscover Backup for Google Workspace Accounts

AutoDiscover Backup automatically detects and incorporates new accounts (including mailboxes and sub-products) into the backup process. If you need to exclude Google Drive from the process, follow the steps described below.

Exclude Google Drive from AutoDiscover

  1. Log in to the End-User Portal.
  2. From the Dashboard page, click +Add Backup.
  3. Select the backed-up Google Workspace tenant.
  4. Choose the account from which you want to exclude Google Drive and click Exclude.
  5. In the exclusion confirmation modal, select GDrive from the Sub-Product drop-down menu and click Yes to continue.
  6. You'll be redirected to the Google Workspace page. Enable the AutoDiscover toggle.
Figure 5: AutoDiscover toggle (click to enlarge)

  1. In the AutoDiscover confirmation modal, ensure the GDrive toggle is inactive, then click OK.

    Figure 6: Confirmation box (click to enlarge)
  2. After you've enabled AutoDiscover, any excluded Google Drive accounts will remain excluded, and Dropsuite will not add new Google Drives to the backup.

Performing Restores

You have multiple options for restoring and downloading Google Drive data. To learn how to do so, select a topic to continue.

Restoring the Entire Google Drive

  1. Log in to the End-User Portal and navigate to your dashboard.
  2. Click the GDrive tab.
  3. Move your cursor over the user's Drive you wish to restore and click Restore.
  4. On the next screen, configure the following options:
    • Backup Date: Restore files and folders as of this date.
    • Destination: Restore to the same user's Drive or another user's Drive within the same tenant.
    • Default Folder: Choose to restore files to their original location or create a new folder for the restored data.
    • Advanced Options: Resolve file conflicts via one of the following actions:
      • Create (Default): Duplicate existing files.
      • Append: Add new versions of existing files.
      • Overwrite: Replace existing files.
      • Skip: Bypass restoration files that already exist.
  5. Click Start Restore and confirm by clicking Yes, Continue.

Restoring Selected Files or Folders

  1. Click the username of the data you are restoring.
  2. Locate the files or folders you want to restore and click Restore.
  3. Choose to restore:
    • The last backup version or
    • The last and all previous versions are on the backup date.
  4. Configure the settings as described in the Restore Entire Google Drive section of this article and confirm the restore.

You can monitor restore status by clicking System Status → Restores on your dashboard.

Note that when files or folders have permissions, Dropsuite will restore them along with the content.

Download the Entire Google Drive

  1. Log in to the End-User Portal and navigate to your dashboard.
  2. Click the GDrive tab.
  3. Move your cursor over the user's Drive you wish to download and click Data.
  4. Select the Backup Date and click Generate Download. Confirm by clicking Yes, Continue.

Download Selected Files or Folders

  1. Click the username whose data you wish to download.
  2. Select the backup and the files or folders you wish to download.
  3. Choose to download:
    • The last backup version, or
    • The last and all previous versions on the backup date.
  4. Click Generate Download and confirm by clicking Yes, Continue.

You can monitor download status by clicking System Status → Restores on your dashboard.

Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ)

The following questions have been asked by our customers and answered by our product specialists. Select a topic to continue.

Is Google Drive backup enabled by default?

Yes. Google Drive is added to the backup by default, but you can deactivate it.

Can I exclude Google Drive for a mailbox already added to a backup?

Yes. You can exclude Google Drive while keeping other sub-products for mailboxes with an "added" status (checkbox visible).

Will excluding Google Drive affect other backups?

No. Excluding Google Drive will not impact the backup of emails or other sub-products.

Will excluding Google Drive affect previous backups?

No. Changes apply only to future backups and do not impact existing ones.

Can this modularity be applied across multiple tenant backups?

Yes. Google Drive modularity is available for each tenant and can be applied individually.

Can I undo an exclusion?

Yes. Use the Remove from exclusion list feature:

  1. Log in to the End-User portal.
  2. From the Dashboard page, click the +Add Backup button.
  3. Select the backed-up M365 tenant and choose Remove from exclusion list.
  4. Confirm the removal of all sub-products by clicking Yes, Continue.

Can I re-add excluded Google Drive instances to the backup?

Yes. Use the +Add to backup feature for both manual and AutoDiscover backups.

  1. Log in to the End-User portal.
  2. From the Dashboard page, click the +Add Backup button.
  3. Select the backed-up Google Workspace tenant.
  4. Select the corresponding option:
    • AutoDiscover backup → follow steps 5 through 8.
    • Manual backup → follow steps 7 through 8.
  5. Click the Click here to manage excluded accounts button.
  6. Select the mailbox and click the +Add to backup button.
  7. Dropsuite will show a confirmation modal. Ensure you enable the OneDrive toggle, then click the Yes, Continue button.
  8. The previously excluded OneDrive will be re-added.

Which Google Drive items does the system back up?

Google Drive backs up the following objects:

  • Items: Files, folders
  • Metadata: Version, permission

Permissions are captured only when a file is updated. If no changes occur to the file, the system doesn't receive a delta update and won't back up the permissions.

I have a file with multiple versions and permissions. How are multiple permissions handled?

If a file has multiple versions with different permissions, the system backs them up accurately, reflecting the permissions as they existed in Google Drive.

Can I restore Google Drive to a Shared Drives account?

Yes. On the restore destination, choose Other Account. Restore to Shared Drive is available on the restore method.

restore to shared drive.png
Figure 7: Restore to Shared Drive (click to enlarge)
This feature will only be available from the dashboard after you have selected files or folders within a personal drive. You cannot access the feature if you select the files from Advanced Search.

Does the system record logs for Google Drive?

Yes. We provide a log that records Google Drive in the system activity log for security and compliance purposes.

logs for G drive.png
Figure 8: Audit Logs (click to enlarge)

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