Cloud Backup Essentials: What to Save and Where

Hard drives fail. Laptops get stolen. Ransomware encrypts local files. Cloud backup is boring until you need it — then it is the best subscription you ever paid for. I learned this after a laptop theft in a café; the only files I got back were the ones synced off-device.

The 3-2-1 rule explained

3 copies of anything you cannot recreate (photos, documents, project files).
2 different media — e.g. internal SSD plus external drive or NAS.
1 off-site — cloud or physical storage at another location.

What to back up (and skip)

Back up: documents, photos, creative projects, exported bookmarks, password vault export, software licence keys, email archives if local. Skip: entire Steam/Epic libraries (re-download), Windows itself (reinstall), cache folders, node_modules.

Service types compared

Full-system backup (Backblaze, iDrive): restore entire machine after crash or ransomware — set and forget. Sync (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive): great for active files; dangerous if accidental delete syncs — enable version history and recycle bin. Photo-specific (Google Photos, iCloud Photos): often best value for camera rolls only.

Encryption and privacy

Enable client-side encryption if offered (Backblaze B2 with your keys, Cryptomator for sync folders). Read privacy policy — some "free" tiers train on metadata. 2FA on cloud accounts — backup without 2FA is a single password away from loss.