Step-by-step guide

Detailed setup

Every click from a brand-new account to your first verified backup. Most organizations finish in about 15 minutes — no agents, no consultants, no PowerShell.

Before you start, have ready:

  • A Microsoft 365 tenant and a Global Administrator account for it (needed once, to create the app registration and grant consent)
  • A work email address for your Backup365 owner account
  • About 15 minutes

Part 1 — Create your Backup365 account

1

Open the app and register your organization

Go to backup365now.com/app and choose Create organization. Enter your company name, your email address, and a password, then complete the image captcha.

2

Confirm your email and sign in

Click the verification link we email you, then sign in. Your account is the owner of the organization — you can invite admins, backup users, and viewers later from Portal users. Your free 15-day trial starts now; no credit card is needed.

Part 2 — Register an app in Microsoft Entra

Backup365 reads your tenant through Microsoft Graph using an app registration that stays in your tenant, under your control.

3

Create the app registration

Sign in to the Azure portal as a Global Administrator and go to Microsoft Entra ID → App registrations → New registration.

  • Name: anything you like — for example Backup365
  • Supported account types: Accounts in this organizational directory only (single tenant)
  • Redirect URI: leave empty
portal.azure.com
Microsoft Azure
Home > App registrations >
Register an application
Name *
Backup365
Supported account types *
◉ Accounts in this organizational directory only (Single tenant) choose this
◯ Accounts in any organizational directory (Multitenant)
◯ Personal Microsoft accounts only
Redirect URI (optional)
Leave empty
Register
What the registration form should look like before you click Register.

Click Register. On the app's Overview page, copy two values you'll paste into Backup365 later: the Directory (tenant) ID and the Application (client) ID.

portal.azure.com
Microsoft Azure
Home > App registrations > Backup365
Backup365 — Overview
Display name Backup365
Application (client) ID 4f8a12de-93b1-47c6-a1e0-…copy #1
Directory (tenant) ID b2c94a07-5d28-4f11-90c3-…copy #2
Object ID 7d31c5f9-… not needed
The Overview page — copy the two highlighted IDs. You do not need the Object ID.
4

Add Microsoft Graph permissions

Open API permissions → Add a permission → Microsoft Graph → Application permissions (not "Delegated"). Search for and add each of these:

portal.azure.com
Microsoft Azure
Request API permissions
Microsoft Graph  ·  What type of permissions does your application require?
Delegated permissions Your application needs to access the API as the signed-in user Application permissions Your application runs as a background service without a signed-in user choose this
Select permissions
🔎  mail.read
Mail.Read
Read mail in all mailboxes
Mail.ReadBasic.All
Read basic mail in all mailboxes
Add permissions
Adding a permission: pick Application permissions, search for the name, tick the exact permission, then click Add permissions. Repeat for each one in the list below.
User.Read.AllMail.ReadFiles.Read.All Calendars.ReadContacts.ReadSites.Read.All Group.Read.AllChat.Read.All ChannelMessage.Read.AllNotes.Read.All

What they're for:

  • User.Read.All — list the users you can protect
  • Mail.Read — mailboxes and in-place archives
  • Files.Read.All — OneDrive files
  • Calendars.Read / Contacts.Read — calendars and contacts
  • Sites.Read.All — SharePoint document libraries
  • Group.Read.All — Teams enumeration and group mailboxes
  • Chat.Read.All / ChannelMessage.Read.All — Teams chats and channel messages
  • Notes.Read.All — OneNote notebooks

Optional — only if you want in-place Restore: also add Mail.ReadWrite, Files.ReadWrite.All, Calendars.ReadWrite, and Contacts.ReadWrite. Backups never write to your tenant; these are used solely when an owner or admin runs a restore. You can add them later at any time.

5

Grant admin consent

Still on API permissions, click Grant admin consent for <your organization> and confirm. Every permission's status should change to a green "Granted" check mark. This is the step people miss most often — without it, the connection test will fail.

portal.azure.com
Microsoft Azure
Home > App registrations > Backup365
API permissions
+ Add a permission ✓ Grant admin consent for Contoso click this
API / Permission nameType Status
Mail.ReadApplication ✓ Granted for Contoso
User.Read.AllApplication ✓ Granted for Contoso
Files.Read.AllApplication ✓ Granted for Contoso
Sites.Read.AllApplication ✓ Granted for Contoso
After clicking Grant admin consent, every row must show the green "Granted" status. If any row still shows "Not granted", click the consent button again as a Global Administrator.

Teams note: Microsoft additionally gates Teams message export behind a separate protected API approval. Everything else works immediately; submit that form only if you need Teams chat and channel-message backup.

6

Create a client secret

Go to Certificates & secrets → Client secrets → New client secret. Give it a description, pick an expiry (12–24 months is typical), and click Add.

Copy the "Value" column immediately — it is shown only once. Do not copy the "Secret ID" column; that is a different string and the most common cause of a failed connection test. Set a calendar reminder before the secret expires: you'll create a new one and paste it into Backup365 the same way.

portal.azure.com
Microsoft Azure
Home > App registrations > Backup365
Certificates & secrets
+ New client secret
DescriptionValueSecret ID
Backup365 secret 3dQ8Q~kV2xr…copy this a91c47e2-… not this
Copy the Value column the moment the secret is created — Azure never shows it again. The Secret ID will not work in Backup365.

Part 3 — Connect Backup365 to your tenant

7

Enter the three values and test

Back in Backup365, open Connect Microsoft 365 and paste the Directory (tenant) ID, the Application (client) ID, and the client secret value. Click Save connection, then Test connection.

On success you'll see how many directory users are visible. Your secret is encrypted at rest, and Backup365 never stores Graph access tokens.

Part 4 — Choose what to protect

8

Pick protected users

Open Protected users. Every directory user is listed with checkboxes for Mail, OneDrive, Calendar, Contacts, and Teams chats. Tick what you want per user — or use "Select everything for everyone" to enable all sources for all selected users in one click.

9

Add company-level items

Open Company backups to protect shared content: SharePoint sites, Teams channel messages, Microsoft 365 group mailboxes, in-place archive mailboxes, and OneNote notebooks. Each item is selectable individually.

10

Set the schedule and run your first backup

Open Schedule and pick a cadence from hourly to weekly — after the first full run, backups are incremental and only transfer changes. To start immediately, go to Backup jobs and click Run backup now (you can also run it for specific users only). Watch live progress on Backup status; every object is SHA-256 hashed and verified automatically.

Troubleshooting

The four issues that cause nearly every failed setup:

"Test connection" fails with an authentication error

You most likely pasted the client secret's Secret ID instead of its Value. Create a new secret, copy the Value column this time, and paste it in. Also double-check the tenant and client IDs for stray spaces.

Test succeeds but shows "insufficient privileges"

Grant admin consent wasn't clicked (or was clicked by a non-admin). Return to API permissions in the Azure portal and confirm every row shows a green "Granted" check mark, then test again.

Teams chats or channel messages fail with 403

Teams message APIs are protected. Apply for protected API access with your app's client ID, or simply leave Teams messages unselected — all other sources work without it.

Backups worked, then suddenly stopped

Client secrets expire. Create a new secret in Certificates & secrets, paste the new Value into Connect Microsoft 365 (leave the other two fields as they are), save, and run Test connection.

Ready? It's 15 minutes to your first backup

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