What is Google Vault?
Google Vault is Google Workspace’s retention and eDiscovery tool. Google describes it as “an information governance and eDiscovery tool for Google Workspace” that lets you retain, hold, search and export users’ data, including Gmail, Drive files, Calendar events, Chat messages, Meet recordings, Groups and Sites (Google’s Vault overview). It keeps only the data a retention rule or hold tells it to keep.
It isn’t a backup. Google’s own Vault FAQ says Vault “isn’t designed to be a backup or archive tool”, and lists why:
- Limited exports. You can export data for a limited number of accounts, and one Google service at a time.
- Built for legal discovery. Exports are prepared for legal discovery, not for putting data back.
- No backup features. Vault can’t create differential backups or deduplicate data.
- Gaps in coverage. Vault doesn’t support every Google service. Contacts and Keep aren’t covered. Google’s sources disagree on Calendar: the Vault FAQ lists it as unsupported, while Google’s Vault overview lists Calendar events among the data Vault can retain and search (both checked 28 October 2026). Either way, they can only be exported, not restored.
- No automated recovery. Vault has no automated recovery tools, and retained Gmail data can’t be restored straight back into a user’s mailbox. You get an export instead.
The main built-in recovery windows in one table
Google Workspace gives users and admins a short time to undo a deletion. These are the main windows, with the Google page each figure comes from, checked on 28 October 2026.
| What’s lost | How long you can get it back | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A file in a user’s Drive trash | 30 days, then deleted forever | Google Drive Help |
| A Drive file after the trash is emptied | 25 days, admin restore only, for a whole date range rather than single files | Google Workspace Admin Help |
| A Gmail message in Trash | 30 days | Google Workspace Admin Help |
| A Gmail message after Trash | A further 25 days, admin restore only | Google Workspace Admin Help |
| A deleted user account | 20 days | Google Workspace Admin Help |
| Anything older | Only what a Vault retention rule or hold kept, and only as an export | Google Workspace Admin Help |
Where Google Workspace’s built-in recovery falls short
- Problems found late. A deleted Gmail message can be restored for about 55 days at most (30 in Trash, then 25 for an admin). After that, Google doesn’t keep the data unless a Vault rule or hold did.
- All-or-nothing Drive restores. The admin restore brings back everything a user deleted in the chosen date range. You can’t pick individual files or folders.
- Leavers. A deleted user can only be restored for 20 days.
- Calendar and Contacts. Vault doesn’t cover Contacts at all, and retained Calendar events come back only as an export. The Admin console restore covers recent Drive and Gmail data only.
Google Vault vs an independent backup
| Compared on | Google Vault | Independent backup (CloudVision) |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Retention, legal holds and eDiscovery | Getting lost data back |
| What it keeps | Only data covered by a retention rule or hold | Every user’s Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Contacts |
| Calendar and Contacts | Calendar events can be retained and exported, per Google’s Vault overview; Contacts aren’t supported | Both backed up and restorable |
| Getting data back | Export files, with no automated recovery | Restored for you by our UK team, 24/7 |
| Daily record of what was backed up | None built in | The CloudVision Daily Backup Report, object by object |
Google Vault’s side reflects Google’s Vault FAQ and Vault overview, checked on 28 October 2026.
Vault for compliance, a backup for recovery
Keep Vault for what it does well. CloudVision keeps an independent backup of every user’s Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Contacts, as frequently as real time, checks each one against a 24-hour backup SLA and restores whatever you need, 24/7. Retention is configurable to your policy, so you aren’t limited to Google’s 20- and 25-day windows. See managed Google Workspace backup.
Google Vault: common questions
Is Google Vault a backup?
No. Google says Vault isn’t designed to be a backup or archive tool. It’s built for retention, legal holds and eDiscovery, has no automated recovery tools, and can’t restore retained Gmail straight back into a user’s mailbox; you get export files instead.
How long can a Google Workspace admin restore deleted Drive files?
For 25 days after a user empties their trash. Files stay in the user’s Drive trash for 30 days first. The admin restore brings back everything deleted in the chosen date range; you can’t pick individual files.
Can I restore a deleted Gmail message after 30 days?
Sometimes. Deleted messages stay in Trash for 30 days, then an admin has a further 25 days to restore them. After that, Google says it doesn’t keep the data unless a Vault retention rule or hold preserved it, and even then you can only export it.
How long can I restore a deleted Google Workspace user?
For 20 days after the account is deleted. After that, the account’s data can’t be recovered through the Admin console.
Google documentation used in this guide
This guide is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Requirements and product limits change, so check the linked sources and your own policies, and take professional advice where needed. Sources last checked on 28 October 2026.
- Google Vault FAQ (Google Workspace Help)
- Delete files in Google Drive (Google Drive Help)
- Recover deleted files and folders for Drive users (Google Workspace Admin Help)
- Restore a user’s permanently deleted email (Google Workspace Admin Help)
- Restore a recently deleted user (Google Workspace Admin Help)
- Google Vault overview (Google Workspace Help)