Google Workspace backup and recovery software built for you

Google Vault is a native Google Workspace application that primarily serves to assist organizations with a means of archiving and eDiscovery for compliance and/or legal matters.

Google Vault allows organizations to archive data with retention rules, preserve users by placing legal holds, search the organization's data using various search operators, export data for further processing, and review actions of Vault users via audit reports.

Google Vault is not a backup by definition, though it can potentially restore lost data in certain instances. The important thing to remember when distinguishing Google Vault from a backup solution is that Google Vault's chief function is to archive and retain data so that it is easily located in the future.

Backup solutions exist to preserve the integrity of data by continuously producing a copy that may be substituted if the primary data is compromised. Attempting to use Google Vault for backup purposes will ultimately prove tedious and unsatisfactory. Learn more about the difference between Google Workspace backup and Google Vault.

Google Takeout is a service provided by Google that affords users the ability to freely export and archive their personal data.

Google Takeout allows users to export data from products such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Hangouts, Google Photos, Blogger, and dozens of others. Exports are delivered in a variety of manners via .zip or .tgz file.

Google Takeout is not designed as a backup solution, but it can theoretically be used for these purposes. Google Takeout was created by an internal engineering team known as the Google Data Liberation Front as a means for users to simply extract their data from within Google products, regardless of motive.

Thus, Google Takeout provides a copy of data that could be used for restoration in a data loss event, though maintaining such a process — especially within large organizations — is impractical and comes without many of the functionalities and capabilities afforded by modern backup solutions.

Google Backup and Sync is downloadable software that allows users to take data stored on their Mac or PC — such as documents, photos, videos, etc. — and systematically sync them to their Google Drive account in the cloud.

Backup and Sync was introduced in July of 2017 as a replacement for the Google Drive desktop client, which has since been discontinued. The application primarily serves to make synced data remotely accessible while safeguarding from hardware failure and risks associated with physical data storage.

Google Workspace data is encrypted at rest, within backup media, and while in transit between user devices and Google or between Google data centers. Google utilizes a 2048-bit RSA encryption key model and claims to be the “first major cloud provider to enable perfect forward secrecy,” which guarantees the encryption of data even as it moves between Google and other companies via the internet. Learn more about Google Workspace security features.

Google does back up your Google Workspace data in order to guarantee that your data remains accessible at all times and to support their own internal backup and disaster recovery plans. However, these backups are not available to admins or end users and exist solely to safeguard Google from their own mishaps. Therefore, they do not protect data from error on your behalf such as user deletion (whether intentional or accidental), programmatic errors, malware, etc.

Prior to 2017, Google policy stated that it “may terminate your account in accordance with the terms of service if you fail to login to your account for a period of nine months.” However, this statement has since been removed and there is no current policy of automatic deletion following a period of inactivity. Thus, inactive Gmail accounts should remain accessible and intact.

Gmail will indefinitely retain all emails that reach the inbox as there is no stated policy of deletion upon reaching a certain age. As such, emails can be kept forever unless they are deleted by the user. Once an email has been deleted, it will reside in the trash folder for a period of 30 days in which a user may recover the email before it is deleted permanently.

Similarly, email that is identified as Spam by Gmail is automatically deleted after a 30-day period if not otherwise acted upon by the user.

If an email has been permanently deleted, it is unrecoverable by the user without a backup and recovery solution in place. However, an organization's Google Workspace admin may be able to recover the emails via one of two ways:

• Emails may be restored from the Admin console within 25 days of deletion. After the 25-day period, the data is purged forever.
• Mailboxes (including deleted messages) from the past 30 days can be retrieved using the Email Audit API.

Google Workspace backup is a necessity because ultimately, it's your data and your responsibility. Below are two excerpts from Google's terms of service:

• “When permitted by law, Google, and Google's suppliers and distributors, will not be responsible for lost profits, revenues, or data, financial losses or indirect, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages.”
• “In all cases, Google, and its suppliers and distributors, will not be liable for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable.”

Your data is the lifeline of your organization, and data loss events happen every day. While Google may afford you protection from errors on their end, it is your job to protect your data from the ever-prevalent threats that are beyond their control.