How to Back Up Google Workspace™ Data: A Business Guide

Having a secure backup is one of the most effective ways to protect your corporate data against loss, accidental overwriting, cyberattacks, or insider threats. In many industries, compliance regulations also require reliable data retention.

While Google Workspace™ offers reliable infrastructure, it does not fully protect against data loss caused by human error, malicious insiders, misconfigurations, or ransomware. That’s why businesses need an independent backup strategy that ensures data can be quickly restored when issues arise.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the main ways to back up Google Workspace™ (formerly G Suite) data, including Google’s native tools, on-premise solutions, and third-party cloud backup platforms. It will help you determine the best approach for your organization.

Google provides various tools for backing up Workspace data, such as Google Drive™ for Desktop, Google Vault, and Google Takeout, each with specific use cases but notable limitations for businesses. On-premise backup and third-party solutions like SpinBackup offer alternatives with better functionality and security features.

Google Workspace™ Backup Key Options

When it comes to protecting business data, Google Workspace™ offers several options that can serve as a starting point. These include Google’s own native tools, traditional on-premise methods, and more advanced third-party cloud backup solutions. 

Each option has its own strengths and limitations, and understanding them is key to choosing the right strategy for your organization.

Below is an overview of the most common backup options available for Google Workspace™:

Google Drive™ for Desktop

• What it does: Synchronizes files between a user’s computer and Google Drive™.
• Limitations: Storage is restricted by the local device capacity. With bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, business data may be exposed on personal computers. Synchronization also means that deleted or altered files affect both copies, leaving your data vulnerable to ransomware or accidental deletion.

Google Vault

• What it does: Provides archiving capabilities for compliance, eDiscovery, and legal hold requirements.
• Limitations: Not a true backup solution. Restoring files from Vault is time-consuming and cannot be done in bulk. It also comes at a higher cost compared to specialized backup tools.

Google Takeout

• What it does: Enables users to export their Workspace data and store it locally.
• Limitations: Backups are manual or limited to only two scheduled exports per year. Restoration is cumbersome, requiring files to be re-uploaded and reformatted before reuse.

On-Premise Backup

• What it does: Uses in-house hardware and IT staff to back up and manage Workspace data.
• Challenges: Expensive to set up and maintain, susceptible to hardware failure or human error, and difficult to scale with fast-growing data volumes.

Cloud Backup Solutions

• Third-party tools like SpinBackup automate data protection with advanced features like ransomware protection.
• Advantages: Automated scheduling, ransomware protection, granular restore options, and compliance readiness. Modern cloud backup tools also scale easily and reduce the burden on IT teams

Having a secure backup is a great way to ensure the protection of your corporate data from loss, overwriting, hacking, or compromise in any other way. Besides, IT compliance regulations and standards often require a backup. As an award-winning backup solutions provider, we’d like to overview of how to backup Google Workspace™ data.

Google Workspace™ Apps to Ensure a Secure Backup Solution

Google Workspace™ includes a wide range of applications that store critical business data. From email conversations to calendars, documents, and contacts, losing access to this information could disrupt your business operations. 

That’s why it’s vital to have a reliable backup and recovery plan covering all the core apps your organization relies on:

• Google Drive™: Stores team files, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Without backup, valuable intellectual property and collaborative work can be lost.
• Google Chat: Provides real-time messaging for teams. Chat threads often include important discussions, shared links, and file attachments that may be needed later. Backups ensure these conversations remain searchable and recoverable.
• Google Contacts: Houses client, partner, and internal team contact details essential for communication. Backups ensure these connections remain accessible.
• Google Sheets: Handles spreadsheets containing budgets, analytics, and business data. Backups safeguard against accidental deletion or corruption of vital financial and operational information.
• Gmail™:  Business email is often the single most critical communication channel. Backups protect against accidental deletions, phishing, or ransomware attacks.
• Google Docs: Used for drafting and collaborating on written content such as reports, proposals, and contracts. A backup ensures that earlier versions and critical documents can be restored if lost or overwritten.
• Google Calendar: Holds important scheduling information, meeting records, and reminders. Losing calendar data can cause missed opportunities and operational confusion.
• Google Spaces: A collaboration hub where teams share files, assign tasks, and manage projects. Spaces often store long-term project histories and documents, making them just as important to back up as email or Drive™ files.
• Google Slides: Stores business presentations, training materials, and sales decks. Backups ensure these assets are always available for internal and external use.

Other Google Workspace™ Apps Worth Considering

Depending on your organization, additional apps may also require backup:

• Google Classroom: For schools and education-focused organizations.
• Google Photos: For businesses that rely heavily on media content.

In this article, we’ll look at various tools to back up your Google Workspace™ (formerly G Suite) data. We’ll cover Google’s own functionality, on-premise backup options, and third-party Google Workspace™ backup solutions.

Backup Google Workspace™ Data With Google’s Own Tools

Google offers a few native tools for backing up or archiving Workspace data. These solutions are useful in certain scenarios but are not designed to serve as an enterprise-grade backup system. These tools are Google Drive™ for Desktop, Google Vault, and Google Takeout. Let’s take a closer look at what each tool offers, along with its limitations.

Google Drive™ for Desktop

When do you use Google Drive™ for Desktop? In situations where you need something easy-to-use and your data flow is not very intense.

The Google Drive™ for Desktop (formerly Backup and Sync) tool allows you to synchronize your local drive with Google Drive™. In other words, your data would be stored in two copies―one on Google Drive™ and the other on your computer.

This tool is fast and easy to use. Here’s how to back up your data with it. Google Drive™ for Desktop is useful for protecting files on a user’s Google Drive™ and their computer. However, it may not always be the best option.

Why Google Drive™ for Desktop isn’t the best solution for your business

Here are some limitations:

1. BYOD risks: If your company uses BYOD, Google Drive™ for Desktop will back up your corporate data to your employee’s personal computer. It’s unsafe for your business, and your employees might not be OK with it.
2. Limited storage: The backup space is limited to the storage capacity of the hard drive.., It’s not enough for many businesses.
3. No true backup separation: If the user deletes or changes the data, both versions will be affected due to synchronization.

To preserve your business’s mission-critical data for an extended period, you will require an alternative tool. One such tool is Google Vault, which we will discuss in detail later in the article.

From a security perspective, Google Drive™ for Desktop has some other limitations as follows:

• It doesn’t follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy, one of the best backup practices. 
• Also, this tool lacks advanced cybersecurity features like ransomware prevention. That’s why the Google Drive™ for Desktop process is vulnerable to ransomware.

Backup Google Workspace™ Data in Google Vault

When do you use Google Vault? In case you need a tool to archive your data for audit or legal reasons.

Is Google Vault a backup solution? Not really. Google Vault is an archiving tool primarily designed to retain data for legal and compliance purposes. While it can help preserve corporate data for extended periods, it is not intended for backup.

 Even Google’s own support page states: “No. Vault isn’t designed to be a backup or archive tool.”

Why Google Vault isn’t the best solution for backing up business data:

Limitations

1. Time-consuming restoration: The restoration process takes a significant amount of time. Google Vault does not allow you to directly restore your files back to Google Drive™ or Gmail™. Instead, you have to locate your data. Then, you have to transfer it. 
   Finally, you have to bring it into Google Workspace™ (G Suite). Furthermore, you cannot do it for multiple files.
2. Storage inefficiency: Google Vault takes up too much space on your Drive™. The tool stores every version of the protected file as a new file. That’s why it’s reserved only for the most important documents. 
   If you “back up” all the files on your Google Drive™ with Google Vault, you will end up taking up all the storage space in no time.
3. High costs: Vault is more expensive than third-party backup tools. You can read more about it here. If you want to back up your data using Google Vault, follow these steps.

Google Takeout

When do you use Google Takeout? In situations where you want to download Google Workspace™ data to store it on-premises.

Takeout is another of Google’s archiving tools. With this tool, a user can download their archived data. Here’s how to do it. You can select and download items across Gmail™, Google Drive™, Contacts, and other Google Workspace™ services.

The download format varies and is often customizable. For example, you can choose to download spreadsheets from your Google Drive™ in either XLSX or PDF formats.

Why Google Takeout isn’t the best solution for backing up business data:

Limitations:

1. User dependency: To use Google Takeout, you need to be logged in as a user. Admins shouldn’t entrust data backup to other employees for several reasons. First, employees can forget, make an error, or mess up the backup intentionally. Second, backup isn’t their work responsibility.
2. Limited automation: Takeout can be automated, but this automation is limited. You can only schedule the backup twice a year. More often, backup will require manual labor.
3. Cumbersome recovery: Takeout restoration is long. As you’ve probably understood by now, Takeout is a tool to create a copy of your data, not to store or retrieve data. If you’ve decided to use this tool as a backup, you’ll still need to store a copy of your data somewhere.

→ Learn how to recover deleted Google Docs

On-premise Google Workspace™ Backup Solution

When do you use an on-premise backup? If you need your own backup infrastructure and have the resources to build it.

On-premise means that you back up your Google Workspace™ data using your own infrastructure. How? Your company uses its own hardware and assigns someone to copy your data and manage its storage, accessibility, and recovery.

With on-premise storage, you can customize your G Suite backup as you see fit, without relying on an Internet connection. You can decide where and how to store your data, how many copies should be made, and how often.

Advantages of on-premise Google Workspace™ backup

1. Full customization over backup policies and retention schedules.
2. Independence from third-party providers or internet connectivity.
3. Potentially faster access to local backups for recovery.

However, there are some obstacles that you’ll face while storing backups on-premises.

Challenges of on-premise Google Workspace™ backup

Here are some challenges with on-premise backup:

1. High cost of ownership: Setting up servers, storage, and backup software requires significant upfront investment. Ongoing costs for maintenance, upgrades, and electricity add up.
2. Manual processes: Backup scheduling, monitoring, and recovery often depend on IT staff, increasing the risk of human error.
3. Hardware vulnerabilities: Local storage is still susceptible to physical damage, theft, or hardware failure.
4. Scalability issues: As data grows, expanding infrastructure becomes increasingly expensive and complex.
5. Business continuity risks: If the on-premise location is affected by fire, flood, or cyberattack, backups may be compromised along with production systems.

Taking all those limitations into account, it’s no wonder that businesses look for tools that are easier to set up and maintain. That’s why it’s common to back up your data to the cloud (despite storing data in the cloud, Google Drive™ is not a cloud backup). 

To back up your data to the cloud, you may consider specialized backup software.

Google Workspace™ Cloud Backup Solutions

When do you need third-party backup tools? If you need to automate the protection of your Google Workspace™ data and ensure compliance without unnecessary effort.

A Google Workspace™ backup tool copies your data to a cloud and recover it if the need arises. Did you lose your email and need that Google Workspace™ email backup restored? The Gmail™ message recovery tool will fix it.

Professional backup software protects your data automatically, minimizing your effort and the chance of user error. Compared to Google’s native tools, backup software gives you more control over backup versions and recovery as well as better customization.

How to Backup Google Workspace™ Data with SpinBackup

If you’re evaluating a Google Workspace™ backup solution, there are plenty to consider including Backupify, Acronis, Spanning, and SpinBackup. SpinBackup for Google Workspace™ is a unique solution that combines backup with ransomware protection and cybersecurity. Here’s what makes it a great backup option for you:

• Automated backup to cloud storage with 99.99% recovery success rate
• Backup data encrypted in transit, in use, and at rest
• User-friendly interface and fast search
• Our license threshold allows even small businesses to back up their data. We provide backup services for Google Workspace™ accounts that only need 10 licenses and large businesses that need over 1,000 licenses.
• Basic backup functionality can be upgraded with a ransomware protection module and advanced cybersecurity tools . This will give your data even better protection

Here you can watch more about our tool:

Don’t let data loss catch you off-guard. Back up your data now.

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Google Workspace™ Cloud Backup Solutions

When do you need third-party backup tools? If you need to automate the protection of your Google Workspace™ data and ensure compliance without unnecessary effort.

A Google Workspace™ backup tool copies your data to the cloud and recovers it if the need arises. Did you lose your email and need that Google Workspace™ email backup restored? The Gmail™ message recovery tool will fix it.

Professional backup software protects your data automatically, minimizing your effort and the chance of user error. Compared to Google’s native tools, backup software gives you more control over backup versions and recovery, as well as better customization.

Why cloud backup is better than native tools

• Unlike Google Drive™ for Desktop, backups are separated from production data and not vulnerable to file sync errors.
• Unlike Google Vault, recovery is fast and user-friendly.
• Unlike Google Takeout, backups are automated and continuous rather than manual or infrequent.

Key Features of Cloud Backup Solutions

1. Automated Scheduling: Set backups to run automatically, ensuring consistent protection without relying on employees.
2. Granular Restore: Recover a single email, a specific document, or an entire account, whatever your business requires.
3. Cross-user Restore: Transfer data between accounts (e.g., when an employee leaves) without hassle.
4. Ransomware Protection: Many solutions detect and prevent ransomware attacks before they spread.
5. Encryption & Security: Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, ensuring compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations.
6. Scalability: Cloud solutions grow with your business without the need for additional infrastructure.

How to Backup Google Workspace™ Data with SpinBackup

If you’re evaluating a Google Workspace™ backup solution, there are plenty to consider, including Backupify, Acronis, Spanning, and SpinBackup. SpinBackup for Google Workspace™ is a unique solution that combines backup with ransomware protection and cybersecurity. Here’s what makes it a great backup option for you:

• Automated backup to cloud storage with 99.99% recovery success rate
• Backup data encrypted in transit, in use, and at rest
• User-friendly interface and fast search
• Our license threshold allows even small businesses to back up their data. We provide backup services for Google Workspace™ accounts that only need 10 licenses and large businesses that need over 1,000 licenses.
• Basic backup functionality can be upgraded with a ransomware protection module and advanced cybersecurity tools. This will give your data even better protection

Protect Your Google Workspace™ Data

Don’t let data loss catch you off guard. Back up your data now. SpinBackup combines automated backup with ransomware protection and cybersecurity features to keep your business secure.

→ Get a Demo

What is the best backup for Google Workspace™?

When it comes to selecting the best backup solution for Google Workspace™, cloud-based options offer the most comprehensive protection, flexibility, and ease of use. These solutions not only ensure that your data is securely backed up but also allow for efficient recovery processes tailored to your organization’s needs. 

Key Benefits of Cloud Backup Solutions for Google Workspace™:

1. Security and Compliance: Benefit from advanced security measures to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
2. Fast Restore Process: Minimize downtime with quick recovery options that align with your business continuity goals.
3. Cross-user Restore: Easily restore data across different user accounts, which is particularly helpful during employee transitions.
4. Search and Granular Restore: Retrieve specific data efficiently, allowing for precise restoration tailored to your needs.
5. Scalability: Adapt to your evolving data backup requirements without compromising performance.
6. Managed Solutions: Enjoy hassle-free management and support, freeing up your team’s resources for other tasks.

Conclusion: SpinBackup delivers a complete backup and recovery solution for Google Workspace™

Backing up Google Workspace™ is no longer optional. It has become a business necessity. While Google’s native tools provide limited protection, they aren’t designed for enterprise-grade backup or rapid recovery. On-premise infrastructure offers more control but is costly and difficult to scale.

Cloud backup solutions strike the right balance by combining automation, compliance readiness, ransomware protection, and scalability. Choosing the right platform ensures that your organization can recover quickly from disruptions, meet regulatory requirements, and protect data.Third-party backup solutions, especially cloud-native platforms, provide the automation, security, and agility necessary for modern businesses. Among these, SpinBackup stands out as a highly effective choice for Google Workspace™ backup and recovery.

SpinBackup delivers a complete backup and recovery solution for Google Workspace™. It’s automated, secure, compliant, and intelligent.

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