How to back up your files
Why back up?
If you use your computer to write, make music, edit videos, draw art, or otherwise create valuable, irreplaceable files, you should back those files up. Every hard drive has a limited lifespan and a large percentage of hard drives (statistics suggest roughly half) stop working without any warning. When a drive stops working, the files on it may not be recoverable. So, any files you keep on a hard drive are not safe. The solution is to back up your files.
Why back up to the cloud?
The most important place to back up your files is the cloud. Major, reputable cloud storage services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox aim to provide 99.999999999% ("eleven nines") reliability, meaning over 100 years, the probability of losing any given file would be 1 in 1 billion. If you had 1,000 files stored in the cloud, the chances of losing a file over 100 years would be 1 in 1 million. Cloud storage services keep redundant data to ensure that when hard drives die, no data is lost. Data centres also take other measures to protect the data inside, such as advanced fire suppression systems and strict physical security.
Which cloud service should I use?
Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox all offer free plans, with 15 GB, 5 GB, and 2 GB of free storage, respectively. All three have file version history. File version history is a useful feature because if you make an edit to a file you want to undo, you can recover an earlier version of the file. Dropbox keeps versions going back for 30 days. Google Drive keeps versions for 30 days, unless you have more than 100 versions within that timeframe, in which case it starts discarding the older versions. Microsoft OneDrive keeps 25 versions; from what I can tell, there's no time limit. (You can also do something similar locally on your hard drive simply by saving multiple numbered versions of the file you're working on. I do this habitually.)
All three of these services are a good option. If you need more storage, go with Google Drive. If 15 GB is not enough, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive each have a $2/month plan that gives you 100 GB of storage. All three services have larger, more expensive options as well. If you need to back up a lot of data (as in, multiple terabytes), the most cost-effective option might be Backblaze.
Google Drive is my personal favourite because I find the interface (both the desktop application's interface and the web interface) more visually appealing and easier to navigate than the others. Another significant advantage of Google Drive is you can choose to sync any folders on your computer to the cloud. With Microsoft OneDrive, you only have the option of backing up a few folders, such as Documents and Pictures. With Dropbox, only the Dropbox folder syncs.
When you decide which service you want to use, install the application on your computer. If the application supports it, you can set up the application to automatically back up or sync the folders where you ordinarily save your files. Otherwise, you should move the folders where you normally save your files to a folder that is going to automatically sync, such as the Documents folder or the Dropbox folder. (You can also copy and paste your folders into a folder that syncs to the cloud, but in general, automatic syncing is preferable to anything that requires a manual step. If you forget or just let this practice lapse, your files won't be backed up.)
If I back up to the cloud, is that it? Am I done?
Mostly, yes. Compared to just keeping your files on a single hard drive, you've reduced your risk of losing your data by over 90%. (Just a casual estimate, not a rigorous statistic.) By far the most important thing is to make sure your files are backed up to the cloud. If you're feeling overwhelmed and want to stop here, that's better than giving up altogether and not doing anything to back up your files.
If you want to follow "best practices", then the standard advice is that you should have at least two separate backups of your files. One should be in the cloud and one should be on an external hard drive. (In a pinch, you can also use a USB stick, but an external hard drive is much better because people's general experience seems to be that USB sticks are really crummy and die really easily.)
Even though files stored in the cloud are supposed to be safe 99.999999999% of the time, there are more likely scenarios that aren't included in this figure. Your computer could have a glitch that stops files from syncing to the cloud (it's happened to me!), and you might not notice in time. You could lose access to your cloud storage account due to an administrative error. (Rare, but possible.) If you're on a paid plan, your credit card might expire or get maxed out and you might not update your payment info in time to prevent your files from getting deleted. (Apparently, this happens to small businesses a lot when their IT person leaves.) Your password could get stolen and hackers could gain access to your account and hold your files ransom, or just delete them.
You can get an external hard drive with 2 TB (2,000 GB) of storage for around $75 to $95, and that includes reputable brands that come with a warranty. You can find drives twice as large or larger for a bit over $100. The website diskprices.com is useful for doing price comparisons. The brand and model doesn't really matter that much. As long as the company is reputable and the reviews are generally positive, you can go with whatever's cheapest or anything you like. If you still can't decide, Wirecutter recommends the Western Digital My Passport Ultra (5 TB). But really, there's not much difference.
The simplest way to back up your files to your external hard drive is simply to copy and paste the relevant folders. This will work in a pinch and will be a clean process the first time. But it will get messy and a bit annoying the second time when the operating system asks you if you want to overwrite your files. (At least, to me. Maybe you're fine with this.)
A slightly fancier way to do it is to use the free, open source program FreeFileSync. Here's how it works:
1. First, for each folder you want to back up, create a corresponding folder on your external hard drive.
2. Then, in FreeFileSync, on the left side of the window (under the Compare) button, select each of the folders on your computer that you want to back up. You can add more folders by pressing the green plus icon. On the right side of the window, select the folders on your external hard drive that you want to back up to. Click Compare to check that everything looks right.
3. Click the gear icon next to Synchronize and select the Mirror option. Then hit Synchronize. Repeat this step whenever you want to do a backup. Deleted files on your computer will be deleted on the external hard drive. New files will be copied over. Files with the same name that have been changed on your computer will overwrite identically named files on the external drive. Files that haven't changed will be left alone.
There are video tutorials for FreeFileSync here and written instructions with screenshots here.
You can also set up FreeFileSync to automatically back up your files on a set schedule. The instructions for that are here.
If you have one backup of your data in the cloud and another backup on an external hard drive, you can rest assured that you are following best practices. If one backup fails completely, you still have another backup to fall back on.
What do I do when my hard drive dies?
Let's look ahead to when your computer's hard drive dies. When you get a replacement hard drive for your computer, download your files from the cloud onto your computer, on that new hard drive. I recommend that you do this even for files you don't plan to use in the short term. That way, if something happens to your cloud storage account (e.g., it gets hacked, you lose access due to an administrative error), you still have a copy of everything on your computer.
If you also have a backup on your external hard drive, then a faster way to restore your files to your computer is running the same process with FreeFileSync pointed in the other direction.
The logic for making a copy of your backup on your computer after your computer's hard drive fails is similar to the logic of backing up your computer in the first place. You reduce your risk of data loss if you don't keep all your eggs in one basket.
What if I'm really, really worried about losing my files?
You can always make additional backups. You can back up to two different cloud storage providers. You can back up to two different external hard drives. If you're working with text documents or other small files, backing up to a second cloud provider is free. If you're working with larger files like video, then extra backups may cost a little extra money. To you, is it worth it for the peace of mind? That's a personal decision.
What about backing up photos from my phone?
My personal favourite app for this is Google Photos. Storage for Google Drive is shared with Google Photos (and vice versa). It all falls under "Google One" subscription plans.
On iPhones, Apple Photos with an iCloud subscription (which starts at $1/month for 50 GB or $3/month for 200 GB) is another good option.
The mobile apps for Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox also allow you to back up your phone’s photos to the cloud, but I can’t vouch for the quality of the user experience.
Currently, if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can back up unlimited photos for free using the Amazon Photos app, but this does not include videos. You only get 5 GB of storage for videos.
Why back up to the cloud?
The most important place to back up your files is the cloud. Major, reputable cloud storage services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox aim to provide 99.999999999% ("eleven nines") reliability, meaning over 100 years, the probability of losing any given file would be 1 in 1 billion. If you had 1,000 files stored in the cloud, the chances of losing a file over 100 years would be 1 in 1 million. Cloud storage services keep redundant data to ensure that when hard drives die, no data is lost. Data centres also take other measures to protect the data inside, such as advanced fire suppression systems and strict physical security.
Which cloud service should I use?
Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox all offer free plans, with 15 GB, 5 GB, and 2 GB of free storage, respectively. All three have file version history. File version history is a useful feature because if you make an edit to a file you want to undo, you can recover an earlier version of the file. Dropbox keeps versions going back for 30 days. Google Drive keeps versions for 30 days, unless you have more than 100 versions within that timeframe, in which case it starts discarding the older versions. Microsoft OneDrive keeps 25 versions; from what I can tell, there's no time limit. (You can also do something similar locally on your hard drive simply by saving multiple numbered versions of the file you're working on. I do this habitually.)
All three of these services are a good option. If you need more storage, go with Google Drive. If 15 GB is not enough, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive each have a $2/month plan that gives you 100 GB of storage. All three services have larger, more expensive options as well. If you need to back up a lot of data (as in, multiple terabytes), the most cost-effective option might be Backblaze.
Google Drive is my personal favourite because I find the interface (both the desktop application's interface and the web interface) more visually appealing and easier to navigate than the others. Another significant advantage of Google Drive is you can choose to sync any folders on your computer to the cloud. With Microsoft OneDrive, you only have the option of backing up a few folders, such as Documents and Pictures. With Dropbox, only the Dropbox folder syncs.
When you decide which service you want to use, install the application on your computer. If the application supports it, you can set up the application to automatically back up or sync the folders where you ordinarily save your files. Otherwise, you should move the folders where you normally save your files to a folder that is going to automatically sync, such as the Documents folder or the Dropbox folder. (You can also copy and paste your folders into a folder that syncs to the cloud, but in general, automatic syncing is preferable to anything that requires a manual step. If you forget or just let this practice lapse, your files won't be backed up.)
If I back up to the cloud, is that it? Am I done?
Mostly, yes. Compared to just keeping your files on a single hard drive, you've reduced your risk of losing your data by over 90%. (Just a casual estimate, not a rigorous statistic.) By far the most important thing is to make sure your files are backed up to the cloud. If you're feeling overwhelmed and want to stop here, that's better than giving up altogether and not doing anything to back up your files.
If you want to follow "best practices", then the standard advice is that you should have at least two separate backups of your files. One should be in the cloud and one should be on an external hard drive. (In a pinch, you can also use a USB stick, but an external hard drive is much better because people's general experience seems to be that USB sticks are really crummy and die really easily.)
Even though files stored in the cloud are supposed to be safe 99.999999999% of the time, there are more likely scenarios that aren't included in this figure. Your computer could have a glitch that stops files from syncing to the cloud (it's happened to me!), and you might not notice in time. You could lose access to your cloud storage account due to an administrative error. (Rare, but possible.) If you're on a paid plan, your credit card might expire or get maxed out and you might not update your payment info in time to prevent your files from getting deleted. (Apparently, this happens to small businesses a lot when their IT person leaves.) Your password could get stolen and hackers could gain access to your account and hold your files ransom, or just delete them.
You can get an external hard drive with 2 TB (2,000 GB) of storage for around $75 to $95, and that includes reputable brands that come with a warranty. You can find drives twice as large or larger for a bit over $100. The website diskprices.com is useful for doing price comparisons. The brand and model doesn't really matter that much. As long as the company is reputable and the reviews are generally positive, you can go with whatever's cheapest or anything you like. If you still can't decide, Wirecutter recommends the Western Digital My Passport Ultra (5 TB). But really, there's not much difference.
The simplest way to back up your files to your external hard drive is simply to copy and paste the relevant folders. This will work in a pinch and will be a clean process the first time. But it will get messy and a bit annoying the second time when the operating system asks you if you want to overwrite your files. (At least, to me. Maybe you're fine with this.)
A slightly fancier way to do it is to use the free, open source program FreeFileSync. Here's how it works:
1. First, for each folder you want to back up, create a corresponding folder on your external hard drive.
2. Then, in FreeFileSync, on the left side of the window (under the Compare) button, select each of the folders on your computer that you want to back up. You can add more folders by pressing the green plus icon. On the right side of the window, select the folders on your external hard drive that you want to back up to. Click Compare to check that everything looks right.
3. Click the gear icon next to Synchronize and select the Mirror option. Then hit Synchronize. Repeat this step whenever you want to do a backup. Deleted files on your computer will be deleted on the external hard drive. New files will be copied over. Files with the same name that have been changed on your computer will overwrite identically named files on the external drive. Files that haven't changed will be left alone.
There are video tutorials for FreeFileSync here and written instructions with screenshots here.
You can also set up FreeFileSync to automatically back up your files on a set schedule. The instructions for that are here.
If you have one backup of your data in the cloud and another backup on an external hard drive, you can rest assured that you are following best practices. If one backup fails completely, you still have another backup to fall back on.
What do I do when my hard drive dies?
Let's look ahead to when your computer's hard drive dies. When you get a replacement hard drive for your computer, download your files from the cloud onto your computer, on that new hard drive. I recommend that you do this even for files you don't plan to use in the short term. That way, if something happens to your cloud storage account (e.g., it gets hacked, you lose access due to an administrative error), you still have a copy of everything on your computer.
If you also have a backup on your external hard drive, then a faster way to restore your files to your computer is running the same process with FreeFileSync pointed in the other direction.
The logic for making a copy of your backup on your computer after your computer's hard drive fails is similar to the logic of backing up your computer in the first place. You reduce your risk of data loss if you don't keep all your eggs in one basket.
What if I'm really, really worried about losing my files?
You can always make additional backups. You can back up to two different cloud storage providers. You can back up to two different external hard drives. If you're working with text documents or other small files, backing up to a second cloud provider is free. If you're working with larger files like video, then extra backups may cost a little extra money. To you, is it worth it for the peace of mind? That's a personal decision.
What about backing up photos from my phone?
My personal favourite app for this is Google Photos. Storage for Google Drive is shared with Google Photos (and vice versa). It all falls under "Google One" subscription plans.
On iPhones, Apple Photos with an iCloud subscription (which starts at $1/month for 50 GB or $3/month for 200 GB) is another good option.
The mobile apps for Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox also allow you to back up your phone’s photos to the cloud, but I can’t vouch for the quality of the user experience.
Currently, if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can back up unlimited photos for free using the Amazon Photos app, but this does not include videos. You only get 5 GB of storage for videos.
• • •
This guide was written by zorbaglorb mainly for the purpose of explaining to their friends and loved ones how to back up their files. If it can also help some strangers, that's great too.
This website is released into the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal license, meaning anyone can re-use or remix it for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, in a modified or unmodified form, with or without attribution.
The floppy disk clip art at the top of the page is from Open Clipart and the artist is juliocesarfx. That clip art is also under a Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal license.
Last updated on July 15, 2025.
This website is released into the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal license, meaning anyone can re-use or remix it for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, in a modified or unmodified form, with or without attribution.
The floppy disk clip art at the top of the page is from Open Clipart and the artist is juliocesarfx. That clip art is also under a Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal license.
Last updated on July 15, 2025.