> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.eazybackup.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.eazybackup.com/microsoft-365-cloud-backup/setting-up-microsoft-365-backup.md).
# Setting Up Microsoft 365 Backup
## Setting Up Your Microsoft 365 Backup
This guide walks you through provisioning the Microsoft 365 Backup product and creating your first backup job. No software to install — eazyBackup connects directly to your Microsoft 365 tenant for cloud-to-cloud protection of Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams.
Most customers complete this setup in under five minutes.
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### Before You Begin
You'll need:
* An active eazyBackup account and portal password.
* A **Global Administrator** account for the Microsoft 365 tenant you want to protect. Admin consent is required so eazyBackup can back up mail, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and more.
***
### Step 1 — Select the Microsoft 365 Backup Product
From the **Welcome to eazyBackup** page, choose the first product you want to activate. Select the **Microsoft 365 Backup** card.
This option protects Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams by connecting your tenant directly — no agent required.
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### Step 2 — Create a Backup Account Username
Choose a username for your Microsoft 365 Backup service. You'll sign in to the backup agent using this username together with your portal password.
**Allowed characters:** letters, numbers, period, underscore, and dash. Minimum 8 characters.
> **Tip for MSPs:** You can create multiple backup account usernames under your account. We recommend one username per Microsoft 365 tenant, which keeps each client's tenant, billing, and reporting cleanly separated.
After provisioning, you'll connect your tenant and create your first backup job.
***
### Step 3 — Getting Started Page and Connect Your Tenant
Once provisioning completes, the **Microsoft 365 Backup — Getting Started** page appears. It guides you through three steps: connect Microsoft 365, review your tenant inventory, and run your first backup.
Your backup storage is already provisioned. Select **Connect tenant** (or **Continue setup**) to begin.
A new window opens so you can confirm the permissions our app is requesting and authenticate with Microsoft.
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### Step 4 — Choose a Connection Method
In the **New Microsoft 365 backup** wizard, the first step is **Connect**. Choose how you want to authenticate:
* **Automatic (recommended):** Sign in with Microsoft admin consent for the fastest, simplest setup.
* **Manual:** For advanced scenarios.
Leave the toggle on **Automatic** and select **Connect Microsoft 365**. Be sure to sign in with a Global Administrator account that belongs to the tenant you want to back up, and approve access for your organization.
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### Step 5 — Sign In to Microsoft 365
The Microsoft sign-in page appears. Enter the credentials for your tenant's Global Administrator account and complete authentication, including any multi-factor prompts.
When prompted, review and accept the permissions so eazyBackup can protect your data.
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### Step 6 — Select What to Back Up
After authentication, eazyBackup discovers your tenant and presents an **Inventory** list of everything you can protect, organized into categories such as **Users & Mailboxes**, **SharePoint sites**, **OneDrive**, and **Teams**.
You have full flexibility in what you select:
* **Everything** — use **Select all resources** to protect the entire tenant.
* **An individual user** — check a single user to include all of their data.
* **A granular selection** — expand a user to choose only specific workloads. For example, you can back up only **Mail** for one user, or select only a specific **OneDrive** item.
Your choices appear in the **Selected for backup** panel on the right. Use **Refresh inventory** if you've recently added users or sites. When you're done, select **Next**.
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### Step 7 — Set the Backup Frequency
On the **Schedule** step, choose how often the job runs. Backups run automatically in the evening, and the system assigns a start time between **7:00 PM and 11:59 PM**.
* **Once daily** — included in the base price.
* **Twice daily** — an extra fee applies.
Select your preferred frequency and choose **Next**.
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### Step 8 — Choose a Retention Policy
On the **Retention** step, decide how long backups are kept.
* **Default — 1 year** (included in the base price): all backups for the last 30 days, plus one backup per week for 52 weeks.
* **Extended retention** — choose 2 through 7+ years for an additional charge. Each option keeps all backups for the last 30 days plus one weekly backup for the selected number of years.
Select a policy and choose **Next**.
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### Step 9 — Name the Backup Job
Give the job a name you'll recognize in your job list and reports. This name also appears in your backup report emails.
A default name is suggested (for example, *eazyBackupDemo – Microsoft 365 Backup*). Adjust it if you like, then select **Create job**.
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### Step 10 — Run Your First Backup
Your new job is created and now appears on the **Jobs** page of your e3 backup dashboard, showing its source, destination, mode, schedule, and next run time.
You can either:
* **Let it run on schedule** — the job runs automatically at its assigned evening time, or
* **Run now** — start a backup immediately to confirm everything is working.
If you choose **Run now**, you're redirected to the live progress page, where you can watch the job complete in real time. You'll see overall progress, processing speed, and the status of each workload as it moves through to **Complete**.
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### You're Protected
That's it — your Microsoft 365 environment is now backed up to eazyBackup's Canadian cloud. From the dashboard you can monitor status, review job logs and reports, run on-demand backups, and restore individual files, folders, or emails with granular point-in-time recovery.