# Restore a SharePoint Online Site by Custom Categories to Its Original Location

You can restore a SharePoint Online site based on the custom categories you have defined, to its original location.

Important

When restoring a SharePoint Online list item that contains attachments, verify the version history of the list item after the restore operation completes.

If the list item was edited multiple times before and after attachments were added, verify that the restored item reflects the expected versions and metadata, such as Modified By and Modified Time.

## Procedure

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > Microsoft 365.

   The Microsoft 365 Overview page appears.

2. On the Apps tab, click the app.

   The Overview page of the app appears.

3. To perform a restore, click Restore on the upper-right area of the page.

   The available Restore options tool appears.

4. To restore sites based on custom categories, select Restore sites by custom categories, and then click Next.

   The Custom Category tab appears.

5. To add a rule to the custom category, click Add rule.

   The Add rule tool appears.

6. From the Source list, select the type of data that you want to define the category, and then configure the settings for the data:

   - Geo Location: To create a category of backup data based on the SharePoint sites' geographical location, select this option. For tenants with multiple geographic location capabilities enabled, you can specify the data location, such as Japan (JPN) or EMEA (EUR).

     - Operator: To include sites from a specific location, select Equals. To exclude sites from a specific location, select Not Equal.

     - Value: Select the location.

   - Locale: To create a category of backup data based on the SharePoint sites' language in the specified regional settings, such as German (Germany) or Chinese (China), select this option.

     - Operator: To include sites in a specific language, select Equals. To exclude sites in a specific language, select Not Equal.

     - Value: Select the language.

   - Site Collection Classification: To create a category of backup data based on the type of SharePoint site, such as Project Online, Teams, and Regular, select this option.

     - Operator: To include a specific site type, select Equals. To exclude sites of a specific type, select Not Equal.

     - Value: Select the type of SharePoint site.

   - Site Collection URL: To create a category of backup data based on the URL naming conventions associated with SharePoint site collection, select this option. See examples below.

     - Operator: To define the text that each URL has in common, select one of the available options, such as Contains or Ends With. You can also use a regular expression to define a pattern of text.

     - Value: Enter a string of text that each URL has in common.

   - Site Description: To create a category of backup data based on the description configured for the SharePoint site, select this option. See examples below.

     - Operator: To define the text that each description has in common, select one of the available options, such as Contains or Ends With. You can also use a regular expression to define a pattern of text.

     - Value: Enter a string of text that each description has in common.

   - Site URL: To create a category of backup data based on the URL associated with the SharePoint site, select this option. See examples below.

     - Operator: To define the text that each URL has in common, select one of the available options, such as Contains or Ends With. You can also use a regular expression to define a pattern of text.

     - Value: Enter a string of text that each URL has in common.

   - SPO Property Bag: To create a category of backup data based on a key-value pair that was set on a site, select this option.

     - Name: Enter the key or part of the key that was configured for the site. For example, enter OwnerDept.

     - Data type: Enter the type of data contained in the key-value pair, such as String.

     - Operator: To define text that is included in the key-value pair, select one of the available options, such as Contains or Ends With.

     - Value: Enter the value or part of the value that was configured for the site. For example, enter Finance.

       For example, all sites that were configured with the key-value pair OwnerDept Finance will appear in the results.

   - Time Zone: To create a category of backup data based on the time zone configured for the SharePoint app, select this option.

     - Operator: To include a specific time zone, select Equals. To exclude a specific time zone, select Not Equal.

     - Value: Select the time zone.

7. On the Destination tab, under SharePoint Online, leave Restore the data to its original location selected, and then click Next.

   The Options tab appears.

8. Beside If documents exists, specify what to do with existing items:

   - To not overwrite existing items, select Skip.

   - To overwrite existing items, select Unconditionally overwrite.

   - Select the Include deleted items checkbox. if you want to include deleted items in the restore.

9. Configure any of the additional options, and then click Next:

   - To restore deleted items, select Include deleted items.

   - To restore only the ACLs, select Restore ACLs only.

   - To restore the workflow definitions and alerts, select Restore workflow definition and alerts only.

   - To restore only the latest version of the site, select Restore latest version only.

   - To skip lookup metadata for items being restored, select Skip lookup metadata.

     The Review tab appears.

10. Review your selections, and then click Submit.

    The Summary tab appears.

11. Click Close.

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