How to back up your photos and files properly: the 3-2-1 rule

We see it every week: a laptop that will not start, or a phone dropped in water, with years of photos on it and no backup. Data recovery is sometimes possible, but it is never guaranteed. A backup is cheaper, faster and certain.

The 3-2-1 rule

• 3 copies of anything that matters
• 2 different types of storage, such as your laptop and an external drive
• 1 copy kept somewhere else, such as cloud storage

A simple setup for home

Turn on iCloud Photos or Google Photos on your phone so pictures upload automatically. On your laptop, use OneDrive, iCloud Drive or Google Drive for documents. Then once a month, copy everything to an external drive and keep it in a drawer.

A simple setup for a small business

Keep shared files in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, back up those accounts too, and keep a separate daily backup of any accounts software or customer database. Test that you can actually restore a file at least twice a year.

Check your backup is working

A backup you have never checked is a guess. Open your cloud storage on another device and find a recent photo or document. If it is there, your backup is working.

Want help setting it up? Tech Depot sets up backups for homes and businesses across County Clare, in store, on site or by remote support.