Microsoft Gives IT Admins New Power to Delete Windows Backups

Microsoft has released new PowerShell scripts that give IT administrators an easier way to view, export, and delete Windows settings backup data.

The tooling uses Microsoft Graph windowsSetting APIs. Administrators could already perform these operations through direct Graph API calls, but the PowerShell scripts simplify the process.

Microsoft adds two Windows backup PowerShell scripts

Microsoft provides two main scripts for managing Windows backup information.

View-WindowsBackup.ps1 lets administrators view Windows settings backup data and export it when needed.

Delete-WindowsBackup.ps1 permanently removes backup data. The script displays information about the data scheduled for deletion and requires confirmation before continuing.

Administrators can use commands including:

• Get-WindowsBackup to retrieve backup information for the current user.
• Get-WindowsBackup -UserId [email protected] to retrieve another user’s backup data.
• Remove-WindowsBackup -UserId [email protected] to permanently delete backup data for a specified user.

Microsoft requires additional permissions for other users

Users do not need specialized permissions to view or export their own Windows backup data.

However, an administrator needs the Microsoft 365 Backup Administrator role to access or delete backup data belonging to another user.

The scripts support Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7. They also require the Microsoft.Graph.Authentication module, internet access to login.microsoftonline.com and graph.microsoft.com, and connectivity over port 443.

If the authentication module is missing, the tooling can install it automatically from PowerShell Gallery during the first run. Microsoft also recommends using PowerShell Gallery to install the scripts.

The scripts currently rely on Microsoft Graph beta APIs

One important limitation is that the new tooling depends on Microsoft Graph beta APIs.

Microsoft can change beta APIs, so future Graph updates could break the scripts or change how they work. The Microsoft.Graph.Authentication dependency also downloads from PowerShell Gallery at runtime.

Microsoft says the scripts themselves contain no third-party code.

In other Microsoft news, Windows 365 recently turned five, while Microsoft’s planned Leeds AI data center is facing local backlash.

Via Neowin