This article shows you how to restore archived data in CloudM Automate. Restoration is one journey: you can restore specific emails, files or chats, or restore a user's whole archive, from the same screens.
From Automate V3.6.0.0 (11 November 2026), Item Restoration and Full Restoration are no longer separate menu options. Both now start from Archive > Restoration.
Choose a user
- Go to Archive > Restoration.
- Choose the user whose archived data you want to restore.
You then either restore specific items, or restore the whole user.
Restore specific items
Use this when you need to recover specific emails, files or chats, rather than a user's entire archive.
- Select the tab for the data type you want to view: Mail, Drive or Chat.
- Use the search fields, date ranges or folder selectors to find the items you need. The searchable metadata and filters section below lists the filters available.
- Select the checkbox next to each item you want to restore. For Drive, click a folder name to view and select its contents.
- Configure where each data type is restored to. Each data type has its own configure window (see restore destinations below).
- Click Restore items and confirm the restore in the dialog.
You can now select Mail, Drive and Chat items in one restore
Chat data types
- New Google Chat: restored from the Chat tab, as above.
- Legacy archived chat: shown under the Mail tab with a "Chat" label. These are restored as emails containing transcripts (up to 500 messages per email). Learn more about legacy chat.
- Vault data: items archived from Google Vault appear in the Mail and Drive tabs with a "Vault" label.
Restore a whole user
Use this to restore all of a user's archived data.
- After choosing the user, click Fully restore user.
- Choose the data types to restore: Mail, Drive or Chat.
- Configure where each data type is restored to (see restore destinations below).
- Confirm the restore.
Restore destinations
Each data type has its own configure window, for both item and full restores.
- Mail: select the destination user and the label to apply.
- Drive: select the destination user and the folder name.
- Chat: select the destination user and the restore format, Restore to Google Drive or Download locally. Both options produce an HTML file.
Track the restoration
Once a restore starts, a side panel shows its progress. You can also follow it, and any earlier restores, in Archive > Restoration Status. See Restoration Status.
Searchable metadata and filters
When searching for items to restore, the following fields and filters are available, depending on the data type.
| Category | Available filters and metadata |
|---|---|
| Users | Name, Email, Organisation (CloudM Automate only), Archive date range |
| Mail and legacy chat | Label, From address, Subject, Has attachment (Yes or No), Date range (sent or received) |
| Drive | Title, Date range (modified date), File type: Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Text, Image, PDF, Folder, Audio, Video, Zip, Other |
| Google Chat | Chat member, Archive date range |
Restoring more than one service at a time
An archive restore brings back Mail, Drive and Chat at the same time, rather than completing one service before starting the next, so a restore covering more than one service finishes considerably sooner.
A restore covering a single service is unaffected, since there is nothing to run in parallel. There is nothing to configure; this applies automatically.
Archive restores still run one job at a time. It is the services within a single restore that run together. Backup works differently: there, separate restore jobs run at the same time as each other.