> This page is for Data Protection.

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.eon.io/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.eon.io/_mcp/server.

# Search Your Backups with AI Assistant

Describe a deleted or older file, email, table, user, group, or shared drive to the [Eon AI Assistant][About AI Assistant] in plain words, and it lists the matching items from your Eon backups.
You can then open one straight in the matching explorer (file, email, or database), without browsing through your backups to find it.

This article explains how to search your backups with AI Assistant and open a result in the matching explorer.
For the other things you can ask AI Assistant, see [Work with AI Assistant].

## Search your backups

#### Open AI Assistant

1. Click the **Ask AI** tab.

   The AI Assistant chat panel opens.

2. Start a chat.

#### Describe what to find and which backups to search

Write your request in plain language, and name what you're looking for.
A search matches names, paths, email subjects, senders, and recipients.
It doesn't read the contents of files or the bodies of emails.
For tables, it matches table, column, schema, and database names, not the records in them.

AI Assistant searches these types of data in these sources:

| Type             | Sources                                          |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Files            | AWS, Azure, GCP, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace |
| Tables           | AWS, Azure, GCP, MongoDB Atlas                   |
| Emails           | Microsoft 365, Google Workspace                  |
| Users and groups | Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra ID             |
| Shared drives    | Google Workspace                                 |

For example, you can write:

* "Find emails from Dana about the Q3 contract."

* "Find the file named quarterly-forecast.xlsx."

* "Find the orders table."

AI Assistant searches backups from the last 3 days by default.
To search older backups, add that to your request, for example "Find budget.xlsx, the version from June."

This decides which backups AI Assistant searches, not the date of the file or email.
A recent backup can contain older items that were included when the backup ran, regardless of the items' own dates.

#### Review the results

The chat shows the searches that ran and the backups they covered, for example 'Searched files for "CloudFormation"' and 'In snapshots from the last 3 days'.
A snapshot is one of your backups.

The matches appear together in the chat, with one table for each type of data you searched.
A table lists up to seven results at first.
To see more of the results the search found, click **Show N more**.

A search that finds nothing shows a caption such as "Files: 0 found", with no table.
"No connected source matches this search." appears only when none of your connected sources can be searched for what you asked.
A type of data your role can't search is left out of the results without a message.

#### Open a result in the matching explorer

Click the name of a result to open it.
The AI Assistant panel stays open, except for AWS, Azure, and GCP files, which close it.
To return to your chat, click **Ask AI**.

Each type of result opens in a different place:

* **AWS, Azure, and GCP files**: The file explorer opens on the item's folder.

* **Google Workspace emails and files**: The item opens in the Google Workspace page, in its folder, and is highlighted.

* **Google Workspace shared drives, users, and groups**: The shared drive, user, or group opens in the Google Workspace page.

* **Microsoft 365 emails**: The email opens in its mailbox folder and is highlighted, and its message details open in the side panel.

* **Microsoft 365 OneDrive files**: The file opens in its OneDrive folder and is highlighted.

* **Tables**: The table opens in the database explorer.

* **Microsoft Entra ID users and groups**: The Microsoft Entra ID page opens on that user or group.

When a caption says more results exist, click **Open in Search** to look further.
The **Search** page opens with your search terms and the same backups.

To query the database snapshot in the database explorer, see [Query Database Snapshots].

## See also

* [About AI Assistant]

* [Work with AI Assistant]

* [Query Database Snapshots]

[About AI Assistant]: /data-protection/integrations/ai-assistant/about-ai-assistant

[Work with AI Assistant]: /data-protection/integrations/ai-assistant/work-with-ai-assistant

[Query Database Snapshots]: /data-protection/backup-and-protection/exploring-and-querying/query/query-database-snapshots