Backing up files and folders

Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

To protect files such as documents, photos, music files, video files, there is no need to back up the entire partition containing the files. You can back up specific files and folders.

To back up files and folders

  1. Start Acronis True Image.
  2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
  3. Click Add backup.
  4. [Optional] To rename the backup, click the arrow next to the backup name, click Rename, and then enter a new name.

  5. Click the Backup source area, and then select Files and folders.

    To back up data that is synced to the cloud by a third-party cloud service provider, the actual data must be stored locally. If the files or folders are stored in the cloud, you will see only their local placeholders. Placeholders often have a cloud icon and are also considerably smaller in size. When you select source files for backup, you must select the local files, and not the placeholders. If the cloud service does not store your data locally, it cannot be backed up and recovered.

  6. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the files and folders that you want to back up, and then click OK.

  7. Click the Backup destination area, and then select a destination for backup:

    • Acronis Cloud — Sign in to your account, and then click OK.

      If you do not have an Acronis account, click Create account, type your email address, password, and then click the Create account button. Refer to Acronis account for details.

    • Your external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select it from the list.
    • NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis True Image will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.
    • Browse — Select a destination from the folder tree.
  8. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup options.
  9. [optional step] Click the Add a comment icon, and then type a comment to the backup version. Backup comments will help you to find the necessary version later, when recovering your data.

  10. Perform one of the following:

    • To run the backup immediately, click Back up now.
    • To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up now button, and then click Later.

Backups are run one by one. The newest backups are added to queue until the previous ones are completed.

When you back up your data to Acronis Cloud, the first backup may take a considerable amount of time to complete. Further backup processes will likely be much faster, because only changes to files will be transferred over the Internet.

Additionally, watch the English-language video instructions at https://goo.gl/i4J1AN.