In this article, you will learn:
- Why back up emails
- How to perform a manual backup
- How to restore emails from a backup
- Common issues
- Frequently asked questions
Basics of email backup
Email backup has two main functions:
- Archiving: Old emails that you do not need immediately, but do not want or cannot delete, take up space on the server and can cause the mailbox to become full. By backing up such emails to your computer, you can remove the messages from the server and free up capacity for new mail.
- Protection against accidental deletion: If you or an unauthorized person delete important emails even from the Trash folder, the only way to get the messages back is to restore them from a backup.
VEDOS backups
Email mailboxes in Webhosting, Mailhosting, WebSite and WMS are backed up approximately once a day. These backups are used to restore data in the event of a server failure, so they are not intended for customer-requested restoration.
Any email restoration on our side is subject to a fee for all services except NoLimit Extra webhosting. More detailed information about our backups can be found in the article Backup ⧉.
We always provide a complete backup, so it contains all emails as of the backup date and time. Before requesting it, make sure your mailbox has enough space for these emails.
We do not provide backups older than 1 week.
Send backup requests authoritatively (after logging in to the customer administration ⧉ containing the email service) via the contact form ⧉. Include the following in your request:
- Email mailbox name
- Date and time from which you are requesting the backup (a technician will tell you the specific dates and times of available backups)
- Agreement with the restoration price according to the current price list ⧉.
When restoring emails, the age of the message does not matter, but the date and time it was deleted do. If you deleted messages from 2020 1 day ago, we can restore them from the backup.
Your own backups
Our system performs backups automatically, regardless of whether you are making changes at the moment or not. So if you are planning to, for example, clean out mailboxes, back up the mailboxes manually as well.
Manual email backup
You can perform a manual backup in the case of a small number of emails directly in the WebMail email client. For larger-scale backups, we recommend a desktop client.
Backup via WebMail
WebMail allows downloading individual emails in .eml format. Unfortunately, it does not support bulk downloading, so it is suitable only for backing up a few messages.
Download an email from WebMail to your computer using these steps:
- Log in to WebMail ⧉.
- In the left menu, select the folder from which you want to download the email.
- Click to select the email.
- In the top bar, click the ... More button.
- Select Download (.eml).
Restoring emails from a backup
Email restoration differs depending on how the backup was created:
VEDOS backup
The restored emails will appear attached as the Inbox folder. The folder name is Restore_(date) with the date from which the backup originates. Inside, you will find folders corresponding to the internal structure of the mailbox.
If you do not see the folder with the restored mail, go to Settings Folders and here check the subfolders of the Restore_(date) folder.
Select the emails inside the backup and drag them with the mouse into the folders where you want to restore them.
After the restoration is complete, delete the folder using this procedure:
- At the bottom of the left menu, click the gear icon and select Manage folders.
- In the Folders column, select the Restore_(date) folder.
- Click the gear icon and select Delete.
Manual backup
Through WebMail, you can import any number of emails in .eml format from a local backup (computer), including those exported from another email client. The main limitations are the size of the uploaded files (maximum 600 MB) and their number (maximum 20).
Upload emails using these steps:
- Log in to WebMail ⧉.
- At the bottom of the left menu, click the gear button and select Import messages.
- Select the .eml files you want to upload.
- Confirm the selection with the Upload button.
Common issues
Common issues with email backup include:
- Unable to authorize a request to restore an email mailbox backup
- The backup does not contain all emails
We do not have permission to request email restoration
Problem: I cannot log in to the administration with the mailbox address I need to restore and submit the contact form authoritatively.
Cause: The email mailbox of the service is not the login for the customer administration. Email restoration from a backup must be requested by the administrator of the email-providing service, i.e. the customer in whose account the service is located, or an authorized customer.
Solution: Arrange the submission of the restoration request with the service administrator. If you do not know who manages your emails, ask support for help.
Emails are missing in the backup
Problem: The emails we needed most are missing from the backup.
Cause: The emails were deleted before the backup was created. The most risky are emails deleted by mail clients when retrieving mail from the server (especially via POP) – the email is deleted practically at the moment of delivery, and it is almost impossible for us to back it up. It may also happen that our backup is completely empty for this reason.
Solution: Try to locate the email in the connected mail client. If you cannot find it, the chance of restoration is practically zero.
Frequently asked questions
I need to restore only one important email from the VEDOS backup. Can you do the restoration for free?
Only if you have the NoLimit Extra webhosting variant. In any case, the technician provides the backup of the entire mailbox; we do not restore individual messages.
We deleted some important emails that were several years old. Can you restore them for us?
If you deleted them no more than 7 days ago, probably yes. In the request for restoration from our backup, always state the date of deletion, not the age of the deleted emails.
How do I download more than one email at once from WebMail?
WebMail does not support bulk downloading. Use an email client, for example Mozilla Thunderbird ⧉, where you can back up emails according to this community guide ⧉.