Many people believe their files are safe because they live in the cloud. Often they are only synced, and sync is a very different thing from backup.
What sync does
Sync keeps two or more places identical. Edit a file on your laptop and it changes on your phone. Delete it on one device and it disappears from the others. Corrupt it, and the damage spreads. Ransomware that scrambles your files can do the same, quietly mirroring the harm.
What a backup is
A backup is a separate copy, kept apart from the original, ideally with older versions you can go back to. If the original is deleted, infected or overwritten, the backup is untouched.
The 3-2-1 rule
- 3 copies of anything important
- 2 different kinds of storage, such as your computer and an external drive
- 1 copy kept somewhere else, such as a cloud service or a drive at another location
A free first step
Many cloud services keep a recycle bin or version history, but how long they keep deleted items varies by service and plan, so check the rules for yours. Then add one external drive and copy your most important folders to it regularly. Photos, school records and client work are the files you would never forgive yourself for losing.
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