In short: Keepit for Microsoft 365 backs up Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and Groups twice a day into Keepit's independent, immutable cloud. It is licensed per seat, counted from users with an assigned Microsoft licence, with unlimited storage, and backups can be held in Keepit's UK data centre region.
What Keepit for Microsoft 365 is
Keepit for Microsoft 365 is a cloud-to-cloud backup service. It connects to your tenant through Microsoft's APIs, copies your data into Keepit's own data centres and keeps it there, immutable, for as long as your retention policy says. There is no hardware or software to install, and Keepit says a first backup can be configured in a few minutes.
Backups run twice a day. Keepit's position is that running them more often would not help, because Microsoft throttles API traffic. A job monitor flags unusual changes in each snapshot, and a deleted items view lists everything that has ever been backed up on the tenant, which makes it easy to find a file someone removed months ago.
What is covered
| Workload | What Keepit backs up |
|---|---|
| Exchange Online | Mail, contacts, tasks, calendars, in-place archives, public folders and sub-folders, and user permissions |
| OneDrive | All documents, with version history |
| SharePoint | Site collections, sub-sites, lists, document libraries, pages, content types, customisations and permissions |
| Teams and Groups | Channels, channel posts and replies, conversations, calendars, files, Planner, wiki pages and channel tabs |
You choose what to protect by Entra ID group, user, SharePoint site and team; new connectors select every data area by default and you can exclude areas you do not need. A Hot Archive add-on for SharePoint Online can move rarely used data out of production while keeping it available. Keepit's Microsoft 365 coverage report, introduced in February 2026, shows object-level coverage and failures, can be scheduled and exported, and makes gaps easy to spot.
Entra ID is a separate service: see Keepit for Entra ID.
Restore options
- Granular: put back a single email, file or record without restoring a whole account
- In place: return mail, files or sites to where they were, with the original folder structure and metadata
- Point in time: recover data as it was before a deletion, overwrite or ransomware encryption
- Prioritised bulk restore: bring back larger sets of data, putting business-critical content first
- Download: export mailboxes as PST, or download files and folders
- Share: send a secure link to the data without restoring it
Because every backup is held in hot storage, there is no rehydration delay and no separate fee for restores.
How it is licensed
Keepit for Microsoft 365 is licensed per seat. A seat is a user or item that is selected for backup and has an active, relevant Microsoft licence assigned. The seat total is taken from whichever Microsoft 365 workload has the most users and items in Keepit's monthly measuring period. Seats come in four types, depending on the Microsoft licence:
| Seat type | Typical Microsoft licences |
|---|---|
| Full | Enterprise E1, E3 and E5 |
| Light | Frontline F1, F3 and F5 |
| Faculty | Education licences for staff |
| Student | Education licences for students |
Guests and external users in Teams and SharePoint are not counted. A shared mailbox with a Microsoft licence assigned does count as a seat. Storage is unlimited, so the cost does not grow as mailboxes and sites get bigger.
Retention follows the tier: up to 5 years on Core Continuity, up to 10 years on Business Resilience or Enterprise Resilience, and unlimited retention as an add-on to those two. The Keepit overview compares support and onboarding across the tiers. Business Resilience and above add support for Microsoft 365 multi-geo tenants. Taking Microsoft 365 alongside Entra ID qualifies for Keepit's bundle discount.
Who it suits and how we help
Keepit suits organisations that want a backup held completely outside Microsoft's cloud, with long retention and no storage maths: professional services firms with record-keeping duties, schools and trusts, charities and regulated businesses. It is also a sensible addition for anyone working towards Cyber Essentials, where recovering from ransomware is part of the plan.
We count your seats, recommend a tier, set up the connector in the UK region with the retention you need, and test a restore with you. Seat changes and renewals then go through us. Compare alternatives in Microsoft 365 backup.
How Forever Systems supplies your software licences
Forever Systems Ltd supplies business software subscriptions to UK organisations from one account, with one monthly invoice and a UK team who know the products.
- The right edition first time: we check what you need before you buy, so you are not paying for features you will never use
- Monthly or annual terms where the vendor offers them, and help timing renewals and commitments
- Licence changes handled for you: add or remove users, upgrade editions and true-up without starting a new contract
- Deployment and support from engineers who run these products every day, not just a reseller account
- Consolidated billing and renewal reminders so nothing lapses unexpectedly
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations of all sizes.
Need a licence quote or a second opinion on your renewal?
Tell Forever Systems what you need and we will come back to you by email with options, not a hard sell.
Contact usFrequently asked questions
How often does Keepit back up Microsoft 365?
Twice a day. Keepit says more frequent backups would not improve results because Microsoft limits API traffic.
Does Keepit back up Teams?
Yes. Keepit backs up Teams channels, channel posts and replies, conversations, calendars, files, Planner, wiki pages and tabs. Ask us if you need to check a specific type of chat before you buy.
Can I restore a mailbox as a PST file?
Yes. Mailboxes can be downloaded as PST, as well as restored in place or to a point in time.
Do guest users count as seats?
No. Keepit counts users and items with an assigned Microsoft licence. Guests and external users in Teams and SharePoint are not counted, though a licensed shared mailbox is.
Do I need a licence for leavers?
No. Keepit keeps data from departed users protected at no extra cost, so you do not have to keep paying for a leaver's seat to retain their backup.
Do you supply the Microsoft 365 licences too?
Not on this site. Microsoft subscriptions are handled by Forever Group's Microsoft licensing team.