You can protect and save your files, folders, and even your entire hard drive for free with the best free backup software. The danger of losing all of your files, photos, music, and other important documents in the event of a computer crash cannot be overstated, making backup software an absolute necessity.
There are a variety of ways to back up your data. In order to access and synchronise your files and folders across multiple devices, you may want to consider making a backup copy to a rewritable CD or DVD, USB drive, or external hard drive.
Multiple backup methods are even better than using just one because they provide more real and practical redundancy. If you do this, you may find it more difficult to keep track of your backups. As a result, backup software really shines, letting you set up backups and save them automatically in the background of your work, all while you focus on other tasks.
If you don’t want to spend any money, there are plenty of options for free back-up software. This way, you can test the waters and see which solution works best for you.
Before we look at the best free backup software, we should also check out the best disc cloning and data recovery software.
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EaseUS Todo Backup Free
Backing up individual files and folders, entire drives or partitions, or a complete system backup are all options in EaseUS Todo Backup. Additionally, you have the option of using cloud storage, as well as a’smart’ option that automatically backs up files in common locations.
Scheduling backups and having them run as incremental or differential backups, or even full backups, is then an option. All of the premium features of EaseUS Todo Backup can be found in the free version. Backups can be performed on a pre-scheduled basis, but you will lose the ability to have these backups triggered by various events. When it comes to features like Outlook back up and command line backups, they’re all nice to have, but their absence isn’t a dealbreaker.
Paragon Backup & Recovery
With a wizard-driven interface, the free community edition of Paragon Backup & Recovery is excellent at making the process of backing up as simple as possible. All of your files and folders can be backed up, or you can choose to back up specific files and folders based on their location or their type.
Setting up a schedule and selecting the type of backup you want to create is as simple as clicking a button and walking away. Not only that, but this isn’t just a backup tool, as the name suggests. Even if you can’t boot into Windows, you can still get your data back with Paragon Backup & Recovery, which comes with a robust CD/USB recovery system.
FBackup
Don’t be put off by FBackup’s unattractive (and Office-inspired) user interface. Although it’s not as feature-rich as a tool like Paragon Backup & Recovery, it’s still a capable backup utility.
Wizard and advanced modes are available for FBackup users. When it comes to backing up your files and folders, you can do so in a variety of ways, including on local or network storage devices, removable discs, or Google Drive. To ensure that your backups are always up to date, you can use scheduling.
Ads for the paid version of Backup4all appear in the programme, but they aren’t intrusive, so hooray! If you’re not interested, hopefully you’ll be able to ignore them.
A few features are missing from the free version of the programme, but they may not matter to you because of your specific requirements. Fbackup is a great alternative if you don’t need encryption, FTP backups, email notifications, or incremental backups.
Google Drive
Since Google Drive is a cloud-based service, the amount of data you can store there is limited by the amount of online Google storage you have available. Even though you get a limited amount of space, you can increase it without paying a cent, but Google Drive is only useful for backing up individual directories, not your entire computer.
However, it’s a godsend for regularly backing up important files and directories. Specify as many folders as you want for the software to monitor, and it will make any necessary adjustments almost immediately.
The Google Drive web app makes it possible to sync files between computers, as the name implies. You can then access those files from any computer or mobile device. Although somewhat limited, this is an excellent backup tool.
Google Drive is sometimes referred to as Google One, and the app Google Backup and Sync must be installed in order to use the service.
As a result, you’ll need to keep an eye out for the green ticks next to files and folders that have been successfully backed up; if they aren’t, it means that your files aren’t being backed up, a problem that has previously snagged Google users when the service was updated.
Cobian Backup
For new users, Cobian Backup may be a bit much; however, if you know exactly how you want to set up your backups, you can rest assured that it will give you the flexibility you require.
Create and schedule multiple backup jobs with Cobian Backup, and then store them on a local hard drive or a network share or an FTP server if you have that option. It’s possible to run multiple backups at the same time because it can back up to multiple locations at once.
You can compress and encrypt backups to save space and keep your data safe.
There is no simple wizard to automate the process of restoring data with Cobian Backup, so you are left to copy files back into place, decrypting and decompressing first if necessary, on your own.
Even so, it’s one of the best options for securing your most important data.
BackUp Maker
Individual files and folders can be backed up to a disc, a local or external hard drive, an FTP server, or a network folder with BackUp Maker.
It’s easy to select common files and locations to back up, such as bookmarks, music, and videos, with a simple selection. There are various ways to exclude or add files and folders to an archiving process, including the use of wildcards.
Backups created with BackUp Maker can be restricted to only run on specific days of the week or month, can launch when you log on or off, can be scheduled to run every so many minutes, and can even launch automatically only if a specific USB device is plugged in.
If a specific file or folder is found on a local, external, or network location, a backup will only be performed. A backup is only performed if files have changed since the last time one was performed, or if it has been more than a specified number of days since the last full backup was performed.
You can choose any location on your computer to restore a backup to, and you can also choose to only back up new files when you restore a backup. Additional features offered by BackUp Maker include encryption, splitting backed-up files into smaller pieces, pre/post tasks, running missed ones, and custom compression.
We don’t like the lack of built-in password protection. In addition to Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, this backup software is compatible with Windows Server 2016-2003.
Acronis True Image
AI and other smart features make Acronis True Image another advanced backup tool for Windows. Acronis True Image is the only backup software that provides both local and cloud storage options. System images can be mirrored, discs can be cloned to removable storage, recovery drives can be created, and so on. In addition to Full, Differential and Incremental backups, Acronis provides you with all three backup options. To be clear, there is no free version of this software but it is available for 30 days as a free trial. This means you can take advantage of Acronis True Image during the trial period to clone or mirror a full system image.
Acronis True Image’s best feature is that it protects users against all types of cyber threats, including malware, ransomware, and crypto-jacking. The company claims that it uses AI to protect your data, apps, and systems from cyberattacks. Having cloud storage means you can access your files from any location. It also allows you to manage your backups from any device, no matter where you are. The bottom line is that if you’re looking for a comprehensive Windows backup solution, I highly recommend Acronis True Image. In addition, you won’t be able to schedule backups beyond a month because there is no free version available. Acronis True Images, on the other hand, is head and shoulders above the rest.
COMODO Backup
For a free backup programme, COMODO Backup packs a powerful punch. Besides the system drive, it can back up everything from email accounts to specific registry entries to instant messaging conversations and browsing history to entire hard drives like the Windows registry.
An email, CD/DVD, network folder, and FTP server are all options for backing up data. Backups can be made in a variety of formats, including CBU, ZIP, and ISO files, as well as two-way or one-way syncs, regular copies, and self-extracting CBU files. All of these methods are supported.
Using COMODO Backup, you can choose whether or not your backup files are spliced, compressed, or password-protected. Backups can be scheduled to run automatically, at login, once daily, weekly, monthly, when the computer is idle, or at a specific interval of time. All notifications and programme windows can even be disabled when a task is running in a “silent” mode.
By mounting the image file as a disc, you can browse your backed-up files in Explorer, copying what you need, and then restore them with COMODO Backup. The backup image can also be restored to its original location.
Email notifications, file exclusions by extension type, using Volume Shadow Copy for copying locked files, disk/partition mirroring, changing CPU and network priority, and running a custom programme before and/or after a backup job are all supported by this free backup programme. Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP should all be able to run it without issue.