How to Restore Google Vault Drive & Email Data

Google Vault is a convenient add-on application for Google Apps which helps to retain, archive, search, archive and Restore Google vault Email messages. With this utility, users can search a particular email and transfer selected emails for the purpose of e-discovery and compliance.

It has the ability to set a legal hold and search all items in G Suite, Google Vault seems to be the best option for keeping SaaS data secure and safe. However, if a user deleted a very important email or a folder structure, what to do next? Therefore, in the upcoming section, we are going to discuss a manual solution to let users understand how to restore Google Vault in an absolute manner.

Explore How to Recover Emails From Google Vault

Go through the following steps that help to Restore Google Vault Data in an efficient way. Let us have a look:

Step 1: Log in Google Vault and Create a Matter in it

Sign in to your Google Vault account by clicking on App Navigator icon and now, you can access the Google Vault application

Note: Keep in mind that Google Vault data is only accessible by search. Even there is no other way to browse specific data without performing the search.

In order to begin your search, initially you have to create a “Matter” for items you want to recover. A Matter is like a container for many data related to an individual topic, such as litigation cases or investigations. For creating a Matter, follow the below steps:

Once a Matter has been created, you can select Search from the side bar menu. This will permit you to navigate into the Search options screen.

All search options will not be the same in functionality, even though the terms including To, From, CC in Gmail or document name, file owner, etc. for Google Drive are service-bound.

Step 2: Run Search Queries and Select All Files

Once you have entered the search criteria, run a search (the output shows the same despite which data set you choose). Metadata structure is not found inside Google Vault or Mail, so the organizational structure and other custom details may get lost. As an outcome, navigation through large datasets is somewhat challenging.

Step 3: Export Database File

Once you have located each file or mail you must have to Restore Google Vault Email Data, click on Export Results option to move crucial data down to a local file system. For Gmail users, you will get option to export Google Vault data to PST or MBOX file format. For Google Drive, you will get particular option to migrate sharing permissions as an isolated file. You will have an opportunity to specify a name for exported files.

Once the export process completes, you will get different download options for each file. For Gmail account, you will own a zipped folder which contains a unique .mbox or .pst for each user mailbox exported.

For Google Drive files, you will receive a zip folder containing exported files.

If you have selected a copy of shared permissions, you can also download the XML file which involves a shared permission.

Notice that folder structure non-maintenance is an issue present throughout the process. Does’nt matter if we use Google Drive or Gmail data in your exports. For Google Drive, each document can be migrated in its original format.

Finally, you will Restore Google Vault Drive Or Email Data, the next step to get it back into the G Suite environment. For further steps, the users should to involved in the Google Vault Restore process for authentication, importing, and restoring original Google Vault Restore Email files and folders related to the Organization.

Step 4: a) Import Exported Drive Data Back into Google Drive

To import complete Restore Google Vault Data back into Google Drive, you have to drag and drop every file into the desired location of Drive or you can use Upload feature from Google Drive to start importing Google Vault Restore Email data. If you would like to export Microsoft files back to the Google Docs, make sure to select the Google Drive settings and enable this option “Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format” (Keep in mind that this will migrate all documents in your selection, not only those files that were originally available in Google Document file format).

Now, again the folder structure is not in its original form and there is no other way to import the sharing settings directly from a file that was provided by Google Vault. To retrieve sharing permissions, you have to consult an XML file for end users with permissions to documents and the permission that needs to be re-granted manually.

b) Import Exported Gmail Data Back from Vault to Gmail

To export data from Gmail into Gmail, some additional steps are required. In Gmail, there is no direct import or upload option. So you have to get external help. If you select MBOX as the export file in Google Vault data, then you have to use Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or other similar email clients. Most of the users have recommended Thunderbird because this tool may be hardware or OS-agnostic. If you choose Mozilla Thunderbird, you will require Thunderbird Importer Utility to restore MBOX data back into Thunderbird & Recover Google Vault Gmail Data successfully.

Steps to Prepare and Restore Google Vault Data Back in G Suite Accounts

Stage 1. Rearranging the Google Vault Export Data
This stage is necessary as Google Vault Export is in a compressed zip format. Moreover, each user’s data is in its own separate PST (i.e. if you choose PST).

This script can help you rearrange the Google Vault Export into a restorable format.

We unzip the contents to get the raw PST files
Copy and paste these files into an appropriate location.
Delete the .zip file

Open a new command line instance and type cd
Drag and drop the parent folder path into this line and press Enter.

Then use the query

mkdir PST

Then copy and paste this command.

for /f "delims=" %f in ('dir /b /a-d PST_Export--*.pst') do (
for /f "tokens=2 delims=--" %a in ("%f") do (
for /f "delims=-" %e in ("%a") do (
if not exist "PST\%e" mkdir "PST\%e"
if exist "%f" (
if exist "PST\%e\%f" (
echo File %f already exists in PST\%e
) else (
move /y "%f" "PST\%e\"
)
) else (
echo File %f not found
)
)
)
)

Stage 2 Using a professional remedy

• Now launch the SysTools G Suite Import tool.
• Pick Outlook (For PST) as the source and G Suite as the Destination.
• Select Emails as Workload and Press Next.
• Browse for the folder where you prepared the PST data and validate.
• Perform G Suite Admin Credential Validation.
• Map the Users in one of three ways Fetch/Import/Download.
• Use the Preview screen to make final user data selections and priority markings.
• Validate and Start Import.

In this manner, admins can perform a bulk restoration of email data from Google Vault to Google Workspace Accounts.

Time to Conclude

With this, users can now restore Google Vault content back to the original G Suite account. We explained how the absence of a native restoration option presents a challenge. However, it can be overcome using smart tips and excellent utility, as described above.