Overview

As an administrator, you can restore data to a user's device. If the user has multiple devices, you can choose the device on which you want to restore data. You can restore data to the following locations on the user's device:

• User desktop
• The original location from which inSync back up the data. This is applicable only if :
  • You are restoring data to the same device from which it is backed up
  • You are restoring data across devices running on the same operating system platform.
• A custom location of your choice.

For restore, you can use Search to easily find and restore selected files.

Procedure

To restore data on a user device or a SaaS Apps account:

1. On the Endpoints/SaaS Apps page, click Users. You can also restore data from the User Details page. Click a user name to view the user's details page.
2. Select the user whose data you want to restore. You can also restore data from the User Details UI.
3. Click Restore Data and then select the data source - user device or SaaS Apps under protection from which you want to restore the user data.

4. On the Restore Data window:
   1. In the Snapshot Viewer section, click the   button to view snapshots from which you want to restore the data. ​

Note: By default, Curated Snapshot is selected for restoring endpoint data if the Ransomware Recovery service is enabled for your organization and administrators have created a Curated Snapshot for endpoints.

• Curated Snapshot - Curated Snapshot contains the cleanest and the most recent version of the file processed from multiple snapshots within a defined date range. Select this snapshot to restore data that is completely sanitized, 100% secure, and free of malware or viruses, which in turn helps mitigate ransomware attacks. For more information, see Curated Snapshot.

Note: We support single curated snapshot per user per device.

• Snapshots - Click Last 24 Hrs, Last 7 Days, or Earlier to select the snapshot from which you want to restore the data.

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2. Browse and select the files or folders that you want to restore

     Alternatively, you can use the Search option to find files you want to restore. 

Note: You cannot restore files with the same names simultaneously. 

5. Click Restore.
6. On the Restore to Device window, provide the following details -

   Field	Action
   Restore to Device	Select the device on which you want to restore the data.
   Restore to Location	If you want to restore the data to the device's desktop, click Desktop. If you want to restore the data to the folder from which it was backed up, click Original Location. Note: The restore to Original Location option is applicable only if : You are restoring data to the same device from which it is backed up. You are restoring data across devices running on the same operating system platform. If you restore the data to the original location, the existing files with similar names will be overwritten. Restoring data to the original location of across devices may fail if: The device path/folder has access limitations or edit restrictions. Restore path is not available. Storage space is limited. If you are restoring custom folders configured using global variables as described in Configure custom folders for backup, inSync automatically detects the new user path and restores the data. For example, if you have configured the directory %USERPROFILE% on the user device, inSync automatically identifies the new userhome of the user on the device and restores the data. On Android 11 and later devices, Photos and Videos that are backed up from the Pictures and Movies folder are restored to the DCIM folder even if "Restore to Original Location" is selected.
   	If you want to restore the data to a custom location, click Custom Location and type the location in the Custom Location Path box.

7. Click Restore. 

The restore request is created. You can track all the ongoing restore activities through the Live Activities page.

To view the status of the restore activities, see the Jobs page.

After the restore operation is completed, you can click View Details to view the restore details. For example, the state of restore, number of files restored, number of files missed, and the reason for incomplete or failed restore along with the recommended actions.

Note: 

• Administrator receives an email notification only when the restore is initiated by the administrator. Administrators will not receive email notifications for restores triggered by inSync users on their device or if they are performing a device replace activity.
• If the end-user has enabled the privacy settings, you cannot run admin restore on the device.
• Only Administrators can download quarantined files from the Administrator console. Administrators and End users cannot restore the quarantined files to Endpoints through the Administrator console, inSync web, and inSync Client.  For more information, see Quarantine Files.

In addition to restoring your data, you can select a snapshot and download logs for the snapshot if you have an Elite Plus license. For more information, see Download Logs.

About file metadata after restore

inSync restores the following metadata for the files you restore to their original location.

Note: The Access control list is restored on Windows devices only if you restore a file to its original location and the user has Full Control permissions on the parent folder.

inSync restores the following metadata for the files you restore the files to their custom location.

Download Logs

If you are an Elite Plus License customer and you are using Unusual Data Activity feature to detect suspicious data modification, you can see a Download Logs button in the Restore Data window. Click Download Logs button to download logs, in .csv format, that describes the changes in files in this snapshot compared to the last snapshot. Logs help you identify the modified files that led inSync to flag this snapshot. You can either manually analyze the .csv log or use a third party tool for analysis that can detect potential threats. The log contains the following fields that can help you in analyzing it:

The Download Logs button is available for snapshots created only after Unusual Data Activity feature is enabled.

Note: Logs are not available for the first snapshot after Unusual Data Activity is enabled. If you click Download Logs button for the first snapshot, you see the Page Not Found (HTTP 404) error message.