A photo of a keyboard, pink flowers and a cup of coffee, with the title "When did you last backup your files" for World Backup Day 31st March

What would happen to your important files and precious memories if you lost your phone today? Or if your computer crashed? Do you know how to backup your data, and restore it should the worst happen?

If you are one of the 21% of people who has never backed up their computer, today, 31 March, is for you! It’s World Backup Day!

World Backup Day logo

What is World Backup Day?

World Backup Day is an independent initiative started by two Reddit readers who were concerned at the number of  people who were not backing up or preserving their data. The campaign aims to reach anyone who has never backed up in their life. Anyone who doesn’t even know they have to. And anyone who has no idea where to start.

What does backup mean?

A backup is a copy of the files that you hold on your computer. By taking a copy and storing it somewhere else, you lessen the risk of losing it should your device fail. Documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos… anything that you store on a device should be regularly backed up in case of loss. For example, you can make copies of files to store on an external hard drive, on a cloud-based system on the internet, or on a memory stick.

With 113 phones lost or stolen every minute, and one in ten computers infected with viruses every month, everyone needs to have a backup plan in place. Click To Tweet

Heritage and memories

The awareness campaign focuses on helping people to backup their files. You may immediately think of work, finances, even your collection of favourite selfies… but it also highlights the importance of our digital heritage. The campaign seeks to encourage conversations around the need to secure and preserve our increasingly digital lives for the future. Photographs, family history, recollections and stories are all part of who we are. Are yours safe?

World Backup Day laptop iphone

The elements of a good backup plan

These are the basic steps to your backup plan:

How:

Whatever your system, remember the 3-2-1 method:

  • maintain three copies of your data
  • using two different types of device (e.g. computer, external hard drive, cloud, memory stick)
  • with one copy kept offsite (e.g. cloud, external hard drive in a different location)

Always remember 3-2-1!

Need some help? Book your free, 30-minute initial consultation to help you decide what would work best for you and your files.

Where:

First decide where are you going to back up to. External hard drive, or internet?

  • External hard drives are relatively cheap and portable. Select one that can hold more than your computer can, and remember to keep your hard drive somewhere safe.
  • Cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Amazon Photos have free entry-level packages, but as with any software there is a learning curve attached.  Research the capabilities of each service, and select one that best fits your requirements. They are perfect for copies of important documents or what you are working on right now, and are easily accessible. For larger backups of your whole computer and photo collection, you may want to consider researching the paid versions or other cloud services.

When:

Today is the perfect day to start or reassess your backup process. What can you do today to get started?

If you need some guidance, book your free, 30-minute initial consultation and I can show you exactly what you need to be thinking about to set up your own backup system.

A good backup plan is continuous and needs to become a habit. Think about how much data or how many photos would you be prepared to lose… would a month be OK? Or would you prefer to back up weekly? Once you have decided how regularly you want to backup, schedule it in your diary until it becomes habit. Set your computer to perform automatic backups – there are ways to save your precious memories while you sleep!

This blog post is not long enough (and I am not techy enough!) to give instructions for all devices and scenarios here. The World Backup Day website has some basic instructions for common operating systems. Alternatively you can check with your external hard drive instructions or cloud service for further guidance specific to their systems.

Don’t be an April Fool tomorrow – backup your files today!

If this article has inspired you to start organising your digital files and photographs, take a look at More Organised’s photo organising services and see how they can help you safely organise, save and enjoy your precious memories.