Have emails restored from a backup

If emails have been accidentally deleted or an email account needs data from an earlier point in time, recovery from an existing backup can help.

CURIAWEB also backs up email data as part of its daily backups. If a suitable backup is available, we can restore the affected email data for you.

In this article, we explain what information we need, what you should pay attention to during the recovery process, and why the right timing is particularly important.

Briefly explained: If emails are missing, let us know which email account is affected and the time period for which the data is needed. CURIAWEB will check if a suitable backup is available and perform the restoration for you.

When can email recovery be useful? #

A recovery can be useful if email data from an earlier point in time is needed.

Typical examples are:

• Emails were accidentally deleted.
• Messages are missing after a change to the email account.
• An entire folder of emails is missing.
• Due to a faulty synchronization, older messages are missing.
• Email data from an earlier point in time is needed for clarification.

Whether a recovery is possible depends on whether a backup from a time period when the required email data was present still exists.

What information do we need from you? #

When dealing with email data, it is particularly important to name the affected account as precisely as possible.

Particularly helpful are:

• the affected email address,
• the associated domain,
• which emails or folders are missing,
• from which time period the data is needed,
• when the emails were last still present and
• a brief description of what happened.

For example, if you know that the emails you are looking for were still there on Monday and were missing on Wednesday, share this exact information with us.

Affected email address:
info@meine-domain.ch

Problem:
Emails in the folder "Projekte" are missing

Last known correct time:
Monday

Problem noticed:
Wednesday

Why is the right time important? #

A backup contains the email data as it existed at the time of the backup.

If emails were already deleted or modified prior to the backup, this backup may also contain the already modified state.

An example:

Monday
Emails still exist
        ↓
Tuesday
Emails are deleted
        ↓
Wednesday
new backup is created
        ↓
Thursday
Loss is noticed

In this case, a Wednesday backup might already be too late because the emails had already been deleted by the time of that backup.

Practical Tip: Consider as precisely as possible when the missing emails were still there. This point in time will help us select a suitable backup.

Can I see which backups are available? #

Yes. In JetBackup 5, you can see for yourself which days have backups available for your hosting account.

This allows you to check whether backups are available from the period in which the missing emails could still have existed.

We explain how to find the available backups in the article Which backups are available? View backups in JetBackup 5.

What is restored during an email recovery? #

During a restoration, email data is retrieved from an older backup.

Which data is specifically affected depends on what is to be restored and which data is present in the selected backup.

Therefore, before restoration, we check which email account is affected and what time period is required.

The more precisely you can tell us which data is missing, the more specifically the recovery can be prepared.

What happens to newer emails? #

This point is particularly important.

An older backup only contains the email data that was present at the time the backup was made. Emails that were received or sent later are not included in this older backup.

Depending on the type and scope of the recovery, care must therefore be taken to ensure that current email data is not unnecessarily replaced by older data.

Important: Restoring to an earlier point in time can affect currently existing email data. Therefore, before restoring, we check which data is actually needed.

Why does CURIAWEB perform the restoration? #

You can view the existing backups yourself in JetBackup 5. However, we will perform the actual restoration for you.

This reduces the risk of current email data being accidentally replaced by an older state.

Additionally, extensive restorations can consume significant server resources. Therefore, self-service restoration is disabled for customers at CURIAWEB.

We explain the general procedure for a recovery in the article Restoring a backup in CURIAWEB: How the restoration works.

How to request the recovery of your emails #

If you need email data from a backup, please open a support ticket in the CURIAWEB customer center.

Create a support ticket for email recovery

Describe as precisely as possible which email data is missing and for what time period it is needed.

A helpful request could look like this, for example:

Email address:
info@meine-domain.ch

Missing data:
Emails from the "Projects" folder

Last known correct time:
Monday

Problem:
Folder was accidentally deleted

If you are not sure which backup is needed, that is no problem. Just let us know when the emails were last there and when you noticed the loss.

What happens after that? #

CURIAWEB checks the existing backups and searches for a backup in which the required e-mail data is still present.

If a suitable backup is available, we will perform the restoration for you.

After the restoration, you should check whether the required emails or folders are present again and whether your email account is working as expected.

What if the emails have been missing for longer? #

CURIAWEB keeps daily backups for 30 days.

If the searched emails were deleted a long time ago, the required older backup may therefore no longer exist.

A backup with limited retention is not permanent email archiving.

You can learn more about this difference in the article Backup is not equal to archive: Understanding 30-day retention correctly.

Practical Tip: If important emails are missing, contact us as soon as possible. With each passing day, an older backup from the 30-day retention period may disappear.

Summary #

If email data is missing, CURIAWEB can restore it from an existing backup, provided a suitable backup is still available.

Please let us know as precisely as possible which email account is affected, which data is missing, and when the emails were last still there.

You can check which daily backups are currently available yourself in JetBackup 5. The restoration will then be performed by CURIAWEB.

Since the backups are kept for 30 days, you should contact us as early as possible if you have missing email data.

The more precisely we know which email account is affected and from what time period the data is needed, the more specifically we can search for a suitable backup.