Skip to content

File Restore

Veeam Backup & Replication allows you to recover individual files and folders from backups stored in the Cloud4You Cloud Repository without restoring the entire virtual machine.

For virtual machine backups stored in the Cloud Repository, Guest OS File Restore is supported for Microsoft Windows systems.

Veeam Cloud Connect limitation

For virtual machine backups stored in the Cloud Repository, Veeam Cloud Connect supports guest OS file restore for Microsoft Windows. Multi-OS file restore for Linux/Unix systems directly from the Cloud Repository is not supported.

How does File-Level Restore work?

When restoring individual files, Veeam does not need to restore the entire machine or copy the full VM image to a temporary location.

In simplified form:

Cloud4You Cloud Repository
        │
        ▼
Selected restore point
        │
        ▼
Backup disks mounted by Veeam
        │
        ▼
Veeam Backup Browser
        │
        ├── Restore to the original location
        └── Copy To a selected location

Veeam publishes the machine disks from the backup and allows you to browse their contents in Veeam Backup Browser.

Requirements

Before starting the restore, make sure that:

  • the Cloud4You Service Provider is available,
  • the Cloud Repository is visible in the Veeam console,
  • the backup is available under Backups → Cloud,
  • the correct restore point is available,
  • the Veeam server can connect to Cloud4You infrastructure.

If you want to restore a file directly to its original location, the Veeam environment must also be able to communicate with the target machine and have the required permissions.

1. Open the backup in the Cloud Repository

Open:

Veeam Backup & Replication

Go to:

Home
└── Backups
    └── Cloud

If the backup is encrypted, it may be visible under:

Home
└── Backups
    └── Cloud (Encrypted)

Expand the appropriate backup job and find the machine from which you want to recover files.

2. Start Guest File Restore

Right-click the selected machine.

Select:

Restore guest files
└── Microsoft Windows

Depending on the console version and view, the option may also be available on the top ribbon as:

Guest Files

The File Level Restore wizard will start.

3. Select a restore point

In the:

Restore Point

step, select a restore point from the date from which you want to recover the data.

Example:

03.09.2026 22:00
02.09.2026 22:00
01.09.2026 22:00

Select a restore point created before the data was lost, changed, or encrypted.

Ransomware or file corruption

If the file has been encrypted or corrupted, do not automatically select the newest restore point. Select the most recent backup known to contain a correct version of the data.

Click:

Next

4. Enter the restore reason

In the:

Reason

step, you can enter the reason for the operation.

Example:

Restore of an accidentally deleted file

or:

Restore of a file from before the incident

This information is stored in the Veeam session history and may be useful during later analysis or auditing.

Click:

Next

5. Start Veeam Backup Browser

After reviewing the summary, click:

Browse

Veeam will mount the disks from the selected restore point and start:

Veeam Backup Browser

After a moment, you will see the directory structure of the machine as it existed when the backup was created.

Example:

C:
├── Program Files
├── ProgramData
├── Users
│   ├── Administrator
│   └── User
└── Windows

D:
└── Data
    ├── Documents
    └── Projects

6. Find the file or folder

In Veeam Backup Browser, navigate to the directory containing the data you want to recover.

You can restore:

  • a single file,
  • multiple files,
  • an entire folder,
  • a folder structure.

Before starting the operation, make sure you selected the correct version of the data.

Restoring to the original location

If you want to restore data directly to the source machine, right-click the file or folder and select:

Restore

Available options may include:

Overwrite

and mechanisms that allow the existing version of the data to be preserved.

Restore → Overwrite

The:

Restore
└── Overwrite

option restores the file to its original location and replaces the current version.

Example:

Backup:
C:\Data\report.xlsx

        ↓ Restore → Overwrite

Machine:
C:\Data\report.xlsx

Overwriting data

Overwrite may replace the currently existing file. If you are not sure whether the current version is still needed, it is safer to use Copy To and restore the file to another location first.

Restore Changed Only

Veeam can also compare selected files with the data currently present on the machine.

The:

Compare

option allows you to determine which files have changed since the restore point was created.

After the comparison, you can use, among other options:

Restore changed only
└── Overwrite

to overwrite only changed files.

An option such as:

Restore changed only
└── Keep

may also be available. It keeps the existing file and saves the recovered version next to it.

Veeam then adds a suffix similar to:

_RESTORED_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS

to the recovered version.

Example:

report.xlsx
report_RESTORED_20260904_074500.xlsx

This is useful when you want to compare the current and recovered versions of a file.

Copying a file to another location

The safest way to recover a single file is often to use:

Copy To

Right-click the selected file or folder and select:

Copy To

Then choose the destination.

It can be:

  • a local disk on the Veeam server,
  • another directory,
  • a network share.

Example:

C:\Restore\

or:

\\fileserver\restore\

Click:

OK

Veeam will copy the selected data from the backup to the specified location.

Tip

For the first restore of a file, we recommend using Copy To instead of direct Overwrite. This allows you to verify the contents of the recovered file before replacing production data.

Restoring from a Veeam Agent backup

If the Cloud Repository contains a backup created by Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows, restoring individual files works in a similar way.

Go to:

Home
└── Backups
    └── Cloud

Backups created by a standalone Veeam Agent may be visible under:

Agents

Right-click the appropriate machine and select:

Restore guest files
└── Microsoft Windows

Then:

  1. select the restore point,
  2. enter the restore reason,
  3. start Browse,
  4. find the data in Veeam Backup Browser,
  5. use Restore or Copy To.

After the restore

After recovering the data, check:

  • whether the file was saved in the correct location,
  • whether it can be opened correctly,
  • whether its contents match expectations,
  • whether the correct version was restored,
  • whether file or folder permissions are correct.

If you restored the file to a temporary location, you can move it to the target directory after verification.

Ending the File-Level Restore session

During the operation, Veeam mounts backup contents so that files can be browsed.

When finished, close Veeam Backup Browser and end the restore session.

Do not leave an unused File-Level Restore session open unnecessarily.

Common issues

The backup is not visible

Check:

Home
└── Backups
    └── Cloud

If the backup is missing:

  1. check the connection to the Service Provider,
  2. perform a Rescan,
  3. check the Cloud Repository,
  4. verify the Backup Copy Job result.

Related guides:

Microsoft Windows option is not available

Make sure that the backup is for a Windows system and that the backup type supports Guest OS File Restore from the Cloud Repository.

Info

For VM backups stored in the Cloud Repository, Veeam Cloud Connect does not support Multi-OS Guest File Restore. This includes standard Linux/Unix file restore from a VM backup stored in the Cloud Repository.

Cannot restore to the original location

Check:

  • whether the source machine is available,
  • whether Veeam can connect to the machine,
  • whether the account being used has the required permissions,
  • whether the firewall blocks the required communication,
  • whether the target disk has enough free space.

If direct restore does not work, use:

Copy To

and recover the data to a local directory or network share.

Cannot find the correct file version

Start File-Level Restore again and select an older:

Restore Point

Each restore point represents the state of the data at a specific time.

With longer retention, multiple earlier versions of the same file may be available.

More information:

Retention

Best practices

When restoring individual files, we recommend:

  • using Copy To first,
  • verifying the recovered file before overwriting the production version,
  • selecting a restore point from before the issue occurred,
  • entering the restore reason in the wizard,
  • closing the File-Level Restore session when finished,
  • performing test restores periodically.

Important

Regular restore testing helps verify that a backup is actually usable. A successful backup job status alone does not confirm the completeness of the Disaster Recovery process.

Summary

The simplest path to recover a file from the Cloud Repository is:

Home
↓
Backups
↓
Cloud
↓
select VM
↓
Restore guest files
↓
Microsoft Windows
↓
select Restore Point
↓
Browse
↓
Veeam Backup Browser
↓
Copy To / Restore

Always verify the recovered data after the operation.

What next?

If you need to restore an entire machine instead of individual files, go to:

VM Restore →