Following are some of the most frequently asked questions for backup configuration.
How can I back up selective users?
Choose the Quick Configure option and manually configure the backup by assigning storage and profile to the users to be backed up.
What are profiles used for?
Using profiles, you define backup settings and apply them to a set of users. This helps you to simplify your backup configuration and ensure that all users in a group are backed up according to the same settings.
Tip: For your first backup, you can use the default profile. Later, you can create a new one or edit the default profile.
What settings are configured in a profile?
You can configure the following settings in a profile:
Backup content: Select the users, data sources, and applications you want to backup.
Backup schedule: Define how often the backup should run.
Retention policy: Define how long the backup data should be retained.
Encryption: Configure encryption for the backup data.
What are Auto Configuration Rules for Microsoft 365 and how do I set them up?
Auto Configuration Rules for Microsoft 365 allow you to automatically assign backup profiles to Groups, Teams, and SharePoint sites based on specific criteria you define. Instead of configuring each resource manually, you can create rules with conditions (like "Name contains test") and the system automatically applies your chosen backup profile to all matching resources.
Key Features:
Automatically group and configure M365 resources based on attributes
Works with Groups, Teams, and SharePoint sites
Rules sync every 24 hours (or manually on-demand)
Simplifies backup management at scale
How to set up:
Create backup profiles with your desired backup frequency and retention settings
Go to Druva Console > M365 App > Auto Configuration Rules
Create a new rule and define your conditions
Assign the backup profile to matching resources
Click "Sync Now" to apply
For detailed step-by-step instructions, see our documentation: Auto Configuration Rules.
How do I configure Microsoft 365 backup differently for different sets of users?
You can configure different Microsoft 365 backup settings for different user groups by using Backup Profiles and Auto Configure rules.
1. Create separate backup profiles
Go to Backup Profiles in the console.
Create multiple profiles (for example: Finance, Executives, Contractors).
Each profile can have its own:
• Backup schedule
• Retention policy
• Encryption settings
• Apps included (Exchange, OneDrive, etc.)
2. Assign profiles to different user sets
You have two ways:
Quick Configure (manual)
• Select specific users and assign a profile and storage to them.Auto Configure (automatic)
• Map users based on Entra ID groups or attributes.
• Example: all users in the “Finance” Entra ID group automatically receive the Finance backup profile.
3. Optional: Auto‑Configuration Rules
You can create rules that automatically apply a profile to resources that match conditions (for example, names containing a keyword).
The rule syncs every 24 hours to keep the configuration updated.
How do I add a license to a mailbox?
You do not assign licenses to individual mailboxes in Cloud Platform. A Microsoft 365 active license is consumed automatically when the first backup is successfully initiated for a user. Based on your Microsoft 365 license count, you get 50% complimentary licenses for shared and resource mailboxes without extra storage. To purchase additional licenses, contact Support.
For details, see How the active and preserve license is consumed?
I received a "Microsoft 365 Active License Limit Reached" alert. How do I add licenses to my account?
That alert means your account has used all the Microsoft 365 active licenses currently allocated. When this happens, you have a few options:
Purchase additional Microsoft 365 active licenses so you can protect more users.
Preserve an existing active user instead of keeping them as active.
Remove a license from an existing user to free it up. Note that removing a license also deletes the devices and backed‑up data for that user.
A Microsoft 365 active license is consumed when the first backup for that user’s workload starts.
For details, see How the active and preserve license is consumed?
How do I remove a preserved license from a Microsoft 365 user?
You can remove a preserved license from a Microsoft 365 user directly in the Druva console.
Steps:
Go to the Microsoft 365 dashboard.
Click Users in the top navigation.
Select the checkbox next to the user with the preserved license.
Click the three dots (ellipsis) menu.
Choose Remove License.
Select the workload(s) for which you want to remove the license.
Click Remove License, then Done in the summary window.
Important notes:
Removing the license permanently deletes the backed‑up data and snapshots for that user in Druva.
The license (active or preserved) is freed up after removal.
If the user’s profile has Data Lock enabled, licenses cannot be removed.
For more information, see Preserve Users.
How do I restore a preserved user's account to an active state?
From the Microsoft 365 dashboard, click Users on the top navigation menu bar.
Select the checkbox beside the preserved users that you want to activate.
Click the ellipsis button and click Activate.
On the confirmation window, click Activate.
On the License Change Summary window, review the license changes and click Done.
After activation, it takes up to 30 minutes before manual backup, scheduled backup, restore, and sync operations resume. For details, see Activate users.
If I create an Entra ID filter for Druva SCIM that only includes Microsoft 365 licensed users, will shared mailboxes and disabled accounts still be backed up?
If your SCIM filter only includes Microsoft 365 licensed users, shared mailboxes and disabled accounts will not be included.
Shared mailboxes:
• They typically do not have a Microsoft 365 user license.
• If your SCIM filter only sends licensed users, shared mailboxes will be excluded from the SCIM payload, so they won’t be created in Druva.
• To back them up via SCIM, the SCIM app must be configured to send Shared Mailbox objects as well.Disabled accounts:
• When a user is disabled in Entra ID, Druva automatically marks them as preserved during sync.
• However, if the SCIM filter excludes them entirely, they may never be sent to Druva, so they won’t appear in the console.
So the filter you described would only include active, licensed user accounts, and shared mailboxes or disabled accounts would not be backed up through that SCIM setup.
To learn more, see How to backup shared mailbox.
What data units does the Microsoft 365 Storage Consumption Report show for total backup data?
The Microsoft 365 Storage Consumption Report shows the total backup data in GB (gigabytes).
The column is labeled Total backup Data (GB).
It represents the total amount of data backed up for the selected workloads.
This includes data from both enabled and disabled workloads in the report.
For more information , see See Microsoft 365 Storage Consumption Report.