Simple Backup Guide

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Backing up your data is vital, but doing the bare minimum isn't enough. These handy data backup tips and tricks will help you safely avoid data breaches, data corruption, and missed data—and keep all of your data safe.

Turn On Automatic Backups

We all start backing up data with the intention of continuing this habit, but let's be honest—life sometimes gets in the way. You'll probably miss a routine backup, and when that happens, it's easy to ignore its importance in the future.

Thankfully, many tools let you set automatic backups. For example, if you have an Apple device, you can easily back up your data without input. Moreover, you can back up your device with cellular data if you can't access Wi-Fi.

iPad/iCloud backup

Other backup software, such as Paragon Backup & Recovery, lets you schedule when you want your backups to take place. You can also back up your catalogues in photo-editing apps like Lightroom.

Before starting with a data backup plan, consider reading this backup and recovery glossary to understand the most important terms.

Make a Habit of Backing Up Data Daily

While investing in data backup software can automate your daily backups, these often cost money. Fear not, though, because you don't need to be rich to secure your files and folders. Instead, you just need to be more proactive.

Setting a clear daily habit will help you stay on track with your backups. To ensure you don't forget, set an alarm on your phone and block time in your calendar. While time-blocking the entire day doesn't work for many people, it will help you with tasks that you easily forget. You can use whatever calendar app you want.
Besides backing up your files and folders to a cloud, you should use this time to back up your external hard drives. Go through the files you've saved on your computer and then add them to the necessary files and folders. You can use many of the same Windows file-naming and organisation principles, such as keeping names short and snappy, for your external drives.

Adopt the 3-2-1 Rule

Only keeping one version of your data stored is asking for trouble. All it takes is a single security breach, or for your hard drive to stop working (which it will eventually), to lose all of your vital information. I can speak from personal experience; after dropping my old HDD in 2023, I lost pictures from dozens of trips and some client photos.
The 3-2-1 rule is quite simple to understand.
• 3: You make three copies of all your important data. This can be photos, documents, and anything else you can't afford to lose.
• 2: You store your data on two types of storage. For example, you can store your content on an external hard drive and a cloud storage tool. I take things further by using multiple cloud storage tools, such as Dropbox and Google Drive.
• 1: You send one copy of your data away from your physical location. Though more applicable to businesses, you could still use it for personal data if you want to pay for a storage location.

You don't need to do the "1" part of this, but you absolutely should have physical and digital copies of your data. Paying for premium cloud storage is a worthwhile investment, and getting a high-quality external HDD is also wise. For example, I have a very durable LaCie hard drive with padding.

Use Time Machine, Windows Backup, or an Equivalent

Backing up versions of your computer is a good idea to avoid losing your data if you need to reset your device. For example, you may encounter problems updating your operating system software or run into issues with bad performance or malware attacks.

For example, you can use Time Machine to back up your Mac if you have an Apple computer, while Windows Backup is a great option for Windows users.. After backing up your device, you should have no problems re-installing old versions of your computer—including your files and folders—if needed.