How to back up your data for protection against theft, loss and accidents

FROM work or administrative documents to family photos, vacation videos and e-mails, all kinds of digital documents should be carefully backed up so that they are not irretrievably lost in the event of theft, loss or an accident involving your computer or smartphone. So, in conjunction with World Backup Day (March 31), read on to find out how to make a simple copy of all your content. It is advisable to do two types of backup: one to a hard disk and the other to the cloud.

Backup to a hard disk

It is essential to regularly back up all of the data on your computer. Although it is obviously possible to copy only your documents, it is nevertheless better to back up your entire drive, in case you have to reinstall everything on a new device, for example. This solution also offers the advantage of being able to restart from the backup disk in case of technical problems with your computer.

However, be careful not to store this backup disk alongside your computer, as this could prove detrimental in cases of theft or accident.

If there are a multitude of software programs that allow you to make a perfect copy of your computer's hard disk, Windows nevertheless includes a very simple tool.

To use it, you need to go to the Control Panel and then to the System and Security section. Here, you should find a backup option to copy your files to another drive (USB flash drive or external hard drive) connected to your PC. You will then be able to restore all or part of this data at a later date, if necessary.

If you have a Mac, the easiest way to make a copy of your data is to connect an external drive and use Time Machine, a tool directly integrated into macOS. The program is easily launched and managed from the menu bar of Apple's operating system.

Online backup

Because no one is immune to theft or accident, it is also advisable to keep a copy of this data online. To do so, you should choose a cloud storage service, log in and then backup. Some options include Google One, Dropbox, and iCloud.

This kind of solution is pretty much essential for backing up a smartphone. Your multimedia data can then easily be stored in the same way online, via the relevant services from Apple (iCloud) or Google (One). On an iPhone, go to Settings, Apple ID then iCloud.

There, you can select the list of data you want to synchronize. On an Android smartphone, you have to go to Settings, Google then Backup. These services are free up to 5 and 15 GB of data, respectively. Beyond that, you will have to pay to subscribe (monthly or yearly).

See also: how to make sure you don't lose your contacts when changing a smartphone, how to free up storage space on your mobile device, how to manage your 15 GB of free Google storage, and how to breathe new life into a sluggish smartphone.