In this article, you will learn:
- Why back up emails
- How to make a manual backup
- How to restore emails from a backup
- Common problems
- Frequently Asked Questions
Email backup basics
Backing up emails serves two main purposes:
- Archiving: Old emails that you don’t need right away but don’t want or can’t delete take up space on the server and can cause your mailbox to fill up. By backing up such emails on 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, restoring from a backup is the only way to get the messages back.
VEDOS backups
We back up the email mailboxes of Webhosting, Mailhosting, WebSite and WMS approximately once a day. These backups are used to restore data in the event of a server failure, so they are not intended for restoration at a customer’s request.
Any restoration of emails by us is chargeable for all services except NoLimit Extra Webhosting. You can find more detailed information about backups on our side in the article Backups ⧉.
We always provide a complete backup, so it contains all emails as of the date and time of the backup. Before requesting it, make sure that your mailbox has enough space for these emails.
We do not provide backups older than 1 week.
Send requests for a backup in an authorized way (after logging in to the Customer Administration ⧉ containing the email service) via the contact form ⧉. In your request, include:
- The name of the mailbox
- The date and timeof the backup you want to restore from (a technician will tell you the specific dates and times of the available backups)
- Your agreement to the restoration price according to the current price list ⧉.
When restoring emails, what matters is not the age of the message but the date and time it was deleted. If you deleted messages from 2020 one day ago, we can restore them from the backup.
Your own backups
Our system makes backups automatically, regardless of whether you are currently making changes. So if you are about to, for example, clear out your mailboxes, back up the mailboxes manually as well.
Manual email backup
If you have a small number of emails, you can make a manual backup directly in the WebMail email client. For larger backups, we recommend a desktop client.
Backing up via WebMail
WebMail lets you download individual emails in the .eml format. Unfortunately, it does not support bulk downloading, so it is only suitable for backing up a few messages.
To download an email from WebMail to your computer, follow these steps:
- Log in to WebMail ⧉.
- In the left menu, select the folder you want to download the email from.
- Click to select the email.
- In the top bar, click the … More.
- Choose Download (.eml).
Restoring emails from a backup
Restoring emails differs depending on how the backup was created:
VEDOS backup
You will find the restored emails attached as a folder to the Inbox. The folder name is Restore_(date) with the date the backup comes from. 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 tick the subfolders of the folder Restore_(date).
Select the emails inside the backup and drag them with the mouse to the folders where you want to restore them.
Once the restoration is complete, delete the folder as follows:
- At the bottom of the left menu, click the gear icon and select Manage folders.
- In the Folders column, select the folder Restore_(date).
- Click the gear icon and select the option Delete.
Manual backup
Via WebMail, you can import any number of emails in the .eml format from a local backup (your 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).
To upload emails, follow these steps:
- Log in to WebMail ⧉.
- At the bottom of the left menu, click the gear icon button and select Import messages.
- Select the .eml files you want to upload.
- Confirm your selection with the Upload.
Common problems
Common problems with email backups include:
- I cannot authorize a request to restore a mailbox from a backup
- The backup does not contain all emails
We are not authorized to request email restoration
Problem: With the address of the mailbox I need to restore, I cannot log in to the administration and submit the contact form in an authorized way.
Cause: The email mailbox of a service is not a login to the Customer Administration. Restoring emails from a backup must be requested by the administrator of the service providing the emails, that is, the customer in whose account the service is located, or a customer authorized to do so.
Solution: Arrange with your service administrator to submit the restore request. If you do not know who manages your emails, ask for help from Support.
Emails are missing from the backup
Problem: The emails we needed most are missing from the backup.
Cause: The emails were deleted before the backup was made. The riskiest are emails deleted by email clients when they download messages from the server (especially via the POP protocol) – the email is deleted practically the moment it is delivered, and it is almost impossible for us to back it up. It can even happen that the backup on our side is completely empty for this reason.
Solution: Try to find the email in the connected email client. If you cannot find it, the chance of restoring it is practically zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
I need to restore just one important email from a VEDOS backup. Can you restore it for free?
Only if you have the NoLimit Extra variant of Webhosting. In any case, a technician will provide a backup of the entire mailbox; we do not restore individual messages.
We deleted important emails that are 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, state always the date of deletion, not the age of the deleted emails.
How do I download multiple emails at once from WebMail?
WebMail does not support bulk downloading. Use an email client, for example Mozilla Thunderbird ⧉, where you can back up emails following this community guide ⧉.