Backing Up Important Files

A good backup strategy follows the "3-2-1" rule: three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with one copy stored somewhere off-site (like the cloud).

For most home users, that means your files on your computer, a copy on an external hard drive, and a copy synced to a cloud service like OneDrive or Google Drive. Set backups to run automatically rather than relying on remembering to do it manually.

If you’ve never backed up your files, start today — hard drives fail without warning, and a backup is the difference between a minor inconvenience and losing years of photos and documents.