Cove Data Protection (Cove)'s Microsoft 365 Exchange and SharePoint data export lets you download a copy of backed up data out of Cove and store it locally, outside of the Cove Cloud.
Use Export when you are offboarding users and regular backups are no longer required, but data must be retained for compliance, disaster recovery, or long-term storage. Keeping a local .PST or .ZIP copy also reduces reliance on cloud backups and helps lower storage cost.
What Can You Export?
- Exchange - Exchange mailbox data can be exported to a .PST file. This includes mail, calendar, and contacts. Cove supports exporting the primary mailbox only; In-Place Archive (Online Archive) mailboxes cannot be exported.
- SharePoint - SharePoint site data can be exported to a .ZIP file.
Export Limits
Export jobs are retained for 7 days before they automatically expire and can be downloaded a maximum of 5 times before a new export must be triggered.
If the export exceeds 20GB, the system creates multiple files.
Access and Security
Exporting is restricted to only certain user roles with Security Officer permissions in Cove—this limits access to sensitive backup data across the platform.
The following user roles can export Exchange mailbox and SharePoint site data and download the .pst and .zip files respectively:
- SuperUsers with Security Officer permissions.
- Managers with Security Officer permissions.
This role-based access control ensures that only authorized users can export and access mailbox and site data. All export actions are logged for audit visibility and can be reviewed by administrators.
You do not need Security Officer permissions to cancel an export. A SuperUser or Manager (with or without this additional permission) can do this.
Why Microsoft Global Admin credentials are not required
The export runs entirely within the Cove platform and does not access or modify the live Microsoft 365 tenant. Therefore, Microsoft Global Admin credentials are not required. This reduces operational risk and simplifies access control. It’s especially useful when access to the live Microsoft tenant is unavailable, such as during disaster recovery or legal compliance.
Best Practice
Review Security Officer permission assignments regularly to ensure only authorized users have access to the export functionality, especially for sensitive mailboxes and sites.
Export Job States
Microsoft 365 Export jobs can have one of the following statuses:
- Queued
- Completed
- Failed
- Aborted
What's inside: