Offboarding: Backing Up Your School Files

Offboarding: Backing Up Your School Files

As you prepare to leave the school, it's important to back up any personal or academic files you've stored in your school Microsoft 365 account. This guide will walk you through how to save your files from OneDrive, Teams, and OneNote before your account is deactivated.


Backing Up Files from OneDrive
  1. Sign in to OneDrive
  2. Select Your Files
    • Navigate to the folders or files you want to keep.
    • Use the checkboxes to select multiple items.
  3. Download Files
    • Click Download from the top menu.
    • Your files will be saved as a ZIP file to your device.
  4. Optional: Move to Personal OneDrive or Google Drive
    • Unzip the downloaded folder.
    • Upload the contents to your personal cloud storage for safekeeping.

Backing Up Files from Microsoft Teams
  1. Access Teams Files
  2. Download Files
    • Click the three dots (•••) next to each file and select Download.
    • Save the files to your device.

Backing Up OneNote Notebooks
Option 1: Export as PDF (Recommended for Read-Only Backup)
  1. Open your notebook in https://www.onenote.com.
  2. Click Print > Save as PDF.
  3. Save the PDF to your device.
Option 2: Export Notebook (For Editable Backup)
Note: This method works best on OneNote for Windows (desktop app).

  1. Open the notebook in OneNote desktop.
  2. Go to File > Export.
  3. Choose Notebook and select OneNote Package (.onepkg).
  4. Save the file to your device.
  5. You can later open this file using a personal OneNote account.

Backing Up Outlook Emails
  • Option 1: Save Individual Emails as Files
    1. Open Outlook Web App.
    2. Go to https://outlook.office.com and sign in with your school account.
    3. Open the Email You Want to Save
    4. Click the Three Dots (•••) in the top-right corner of the message.
    5. Select "Print", then choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog.
    6. Save the PDF file to your device or cloud storage.
  • Option 2: Export Mailbox Using Outlook Desktop App (Advanced)
    1. This method requires the Outlook desktop app (Windows or Mac) and is best for exporting large volumes of email.
    2. Open Outlook Desktop App and add your school account.
    3. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
    4. Choose Export to a file > Outlook Data File (.pst).
    5. Select the folders you want to export (e.g., Inbox, Sent Items).
    6. Choose a location to save the .pst file.
    7. You can later import this file into a personal Outlook account or keep it as an archive.

Other Service and Accounts:
  • Adobe license renewal date is Jan 15 every year. This means we have to move the license to new students on this date. If you have any Adobe cloud storage please make sure you get back up and download before Jan 15.


Student Account Retention Policy
  • Graduating Students (End of Year Leavers):
Your Microsoft 365 account will remain active until 1st March of the following year. Please ensure all backups are completed before this date.
  • Students Leaving during the year:
Your Microsoft 365 account (including access to OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote) will remain active for 1 month after your departure date. After this period, access will be permanently removed.

 Account Recovery Policy
Once your Microsoft 365 account is permanently deleted, it cannot be restored—not even by Microsoft support. This includes all emails, files, Teams messages, and OneNote notebooks.

For more details, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation:

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