In this article you will learn:
- Why back up your emails
- How to make a manual backup
- How to restore emails from a backup
- Common problems
- Frequently Asked Questions
Email backup basics
Email backup has two main functions:
- Archiving: old emails that you don't need immediately but don't want or can't delete take up space on the server and can cause mailbox overflow. By backing up such emails on your computer, you can remove messages from the server and free up capacity for new mail.
- Protection against accidental deletion: if you or an unauthorised person deletes important emails even from the Trash folder, the only way to get your messages back is to restore from backup.
Advances VEDOS
We back up Webhosting, Mailhosting, WebSite and WMS email boxes approximately once a day. These backups are used for data recovery in case of server crash, so they are not intended for restoration at the customer's request.
Any e-mail renewal by us is charged for all services except NoLimit Extra web hosting. For more detailed information about backups from our side, please see the article Backup ⧉.
The backup is always complete, it contains all emails as of the date and time of the backup. Before requesting it, make sure you have enough space in your inbox for these emails.
We do not provide advances older than 1 week.
Requests for advance payment should be sent in an authorized manner (after logging into the customer administration ⧉ containing the email service) via the contact form ⧉. Please include in the request:
- Name of e-mail box
- The date and time from which you are requesting the backup (the technician will provide you with the specific dates and times of available backups)
- Agreement to the renewal price according to the current price list ⧉.
When recovering emails, it is not the age of the message that matters, but the date and time of deletion. If you deleted messages from 2020 before 1 day, we can restore them from a backup.
Own advances
Our system performs backups automatically, regardless of whether or not you are currently making adjustments. So if you are going to make, for example, a mailbox deletion, back up your mailboxes manually.
Manual backup of emails
If you have a small number of emails, you can perform a manual backup directly in the WebMail mail client. For larger backups, we recommend the desktop client.
Backup via WebMail
WebMail allows you to download individual emails in .eml format. Unfortunately, it does not support bulk downloads, 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 from which you want to download the email.
- Click to select the email.
- Click on the button in the top bar ... More.
- Select Download (.eml).
Restoring emails from backup
Email recovery varies depending on how the backup was set up:
Backup VEDOS
You will find the recovered emails attached as an Inbox folder. The folder name is Restore_(date) with the date from which the backup originated. Inside you will find folders corresponding to the internal structure of the mailbox.
If you don't see the folder with the recovered mail, go to Settings Folders and check the subfolders of the folder Recovery_(date).
Select the emails inside the backup and drag the mouse to the folders where you want to restore them.
When the restore is complete, delete the folder using the following procedure:
- Click the gear at the bottom of the left menu and select Manage folders.
- In the Folders column, select the Restore_(date) folder.
- Click on the cogwheel and select Delete.
Manual backup
Through WebMail you can import any number of emails in .eml format from your local backup (computer), even those exported from another mail client. The main limitation is the size of the uploaded files (maximum 600 MB) and their number (maximum 20).
Upload the emails by following these steps:
- Log in to WebMail ⧉.
- At the bottom of the left-hand menu, click the gear button and select Import Messages.
- Select the .eml files you want to upload.
- Confirm your selection with the Upload button.
Common problems
Common problems with email backup include:
We do not have permission to request email renewals
Problem: I can't use the mailbox address I need to renew to log in to the administration and submit the contact form with authorization.
Cause: the service's e-mail box is not the login to the customer administration. Restoring emails from a backup must be requested by the administrator of the service providing the emails, i.e. the customer whose account the service is in or the customer authorized to do so.
Solution: Make an appointment with the service administrator to request a renewal.If you don't know who manages your emails, ask support for help.
Emails are missing from the backup
Problem: The emails we needed in the first place are missing from the backup.
Cause: the emails were deleted before the backup was taken. The most risky in this case are emails deleted by mail clients when retrieving mail from the server (especially by POP protocol) - the email is deleted practically at the moment of delivery and it is almost impossible to back it up from our side. There may even be a situation that the backup with us is completely empty for this reason.
Solution: Try searching for the email in the connected mail client. If you can't find it, the chance of recovery is virtually nil.
Frequently Asked Questions
I only need to restore one important email from a VEDOS backup. Can you do the restore for free?
Only if you have NoLimit Extra web hosting. In any case, the technician will deliver a backup of the entire mailbox, we do not restore individual messages.
We deleted several years of important emails. Can you restore them for us?
If you deleted them no more than 7 days ago, you probably did. Always include the date of deletion in your request to recover from our backup, not the age of the deleted emails.
How do I download multiple emails from WebMail at once?
WebMail does not support bulk downloads. Use a mail client such as Mozilla Thunderbird ⧉, where you can back up your emails according to this community guide ⧉.