In plain English
How do you back up your files to a hard drive and to the cloud?
The Simple Answer
Keep at least two copies of what matters besides the original: one on a second hard drive that you control, and one somewhere else, such as a cloud storage service. Then open a file from each copy now and then, because a backup you have never tested may not work.
Files get lost in ordinary ways. A drive fails, a laptop is stolen, a phone is dropped in water, a file is deleted by mistake, or a virus locks everything. A backup is simply a second copy that survives whatever happened to the first.
Copy to another hard drive
This is the simplest method. You plug an external hard drive into your computer and copy your files to it. It is fast, you own the copy, and it works without an internet connection.
- Pick a drive with more space than the files you want to protect. Most people choose room for at least twice what they have now, so older copies fit.
- Plug it in and copy your important folders: documents, photos, and anything you could not recreate.
- Use the backup tool that comes with your computer if you can. Both Windows and Mac have one, and it copies new and changed files for you on a schedule.
- Keep the drive somewhere safe, and unplug it when it is not backing up.
The weakness is that the drive sits next to your computer. A fire, a flood or a burglary can take both at once. Drives also wear out, so this copy can fail without warning.
Copy off-site, to the cloud
Off-site means the copy is stored somewhere else, in a different building. A cloud storage or backup service keeps your files on its computers and lets you reach them over the internet. If your home is damaged, that copy is untouched.
- The first upload can take hours or days, because every file has to travel over your internet connection. After that, only new and changed files are sent.
- Most services charge a monthly or yearly fee once you pass a small free amount. Compare what each charges for the space you need.
- Your files are stored by a company. Choose a service with a clear privacy policy, and turn on two-step sign-in so a stolen password is not enough.
- You need the internet to restore. A very large restore can take a long time to download.
A strong, unique password protects the account that holds your backup. See the related articles below on passwords.
Use both: the 3-2-1 idea
A common rule of thumb is 3-2-1: three copies of your data (the original and two backups), on two different kinds of storage, with one copy kept off-site. For a home user, that is your computer, an external hard drive, and a cloud copy.
| Problem | Second hard drive | Cloud copy |
|---|---|---|
| Your computer's drive fails | Yes | Yes |
| You delete a file by mistake | Yes, if backed up before | Yes, many services keep older versions |
| Fire, flood or theft at home | Not if the drive is nearby | Yes |
| No internet connection | Yes | No |
| The service shuts down or you lose access | Yes | Not on its own |
A made-up example: how long a first upload takes
Say you have 200 gigabytes of photos and documents, and your upload speed is 10 megabits per second.
200 gigabytes is 200 × 8,000 = 1,600,000 megabits.
1,600,000 ÷ 10 = 160,000 seconds, which is about 44 hours of non-stop uploading.
Your real speed and file size will differ. Check your own upload speed, not your download speed, because uploads are usually slower.
A backup is not a backup until you test it
- Once in a while, open a few files from each copy to make sure they work.
- Try restoring one folder to a different place on your computer.
- A copy that syncs instantly can also sync a deletion or a virus. Prefer a backup that keeps older versions.
- Set it to run automatically. Backups that rely on remembering tend to stop.
None of this needs special skill. One extra drive and one cloud copy, tested now and then, covers most of the ways files are lost.