Free backup software is exactly what it sounds like: completely free programs that can be used to manually or automatically back up the important data on your computer hard drive to a safe location such as a flash drive, disc, network drive, and so on.
Commercial backup software used to be the only way to get features like advanced scheduling, disc and partition cloning, incremental backup, and more. Not any longer! Some of the best free software tools perform all of the functions of more expensive programs…and then some.
1 . EaseUS Todo Backup
EaseUS Todo Backup can backup individual files and/or entire folders to and from a local or network drive, as well as save backups to a free cloud storage service. Aside from specific, customized content, the program can also back up an entire disc, partition, or system drive.
You can run an incremental, differential, or full backup on the same data while scheduling a backup or after it has been completed. Because backups are not viewable in Explorer, you must use EaseUS Todo Backup to view the data. You can double-click the backup file to open it in EaseUS Todo Backup, which looks like Windows Explorer and is just as simple to use, but you must have the programme installed to open the backup. A timeline of backups is displayed so that you can easily select a specific time to restore files from.
You can search through a backup by file name or extension, view it in “tree view” with the original folder structure intact, or filter the backed up files by file type such as email/picture/video. You can restore entire folders and/or individual files to their original or a custom location.
EaseUS Todo Backup also allows changing the file compression of a backup, limiting the backup speed and priority, wiping a disc, backing up an Android device, preserving security settings during a backup, splitting an archive into smaller sections, password protecting a backup, and scheduling a backup on a one-time, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
2 . AOMEI Backupper Standard
AOMEI Backupper Standard supports four backup types: disc backup, partition backup, file/folder backup, and system backup. You can also copy a partition or an entire disc to a different drive. All backed-up data, regardless of type, is contained in a single file that can be saved to a local or external drive, as well as a shared network folder.
AOMEI Backupper allows you to encrypt a backup with a password, set a custom compression level, receive email notifications when backups are complete, split a backup into custom-sized pieces (like for CDs and DVDs), and choose between an exact backup (copies used and unused space) and an intelligent sector backup (just backs up used space).
Scheduling is supported, so you can run a backup once or every day, week, or month, as well as at regular intervals throughout the day. There are advanced options for selecting a full, incremental, or differential backup.
The restore function is especially appealing to us. You can mount a backup image as a local drive and browse the data as if it were in File/Windows Explorer. Individual files and folders can also be copied. Instead of searching for a backup, you can simply restore all of your data with a few clicks.
3 . Cobian Backup
Cobian Backup can backup files, drives, and folders to and from any of the following locations: a local disc, an FTP server, a network share, an external drive, or a manually specified location. Any or all of these locations can be used in conjunction with the others as both the source and backup location.
Cobian Backup supports full, differential, and incremental backups. It also allows for the backup removal of empty folders from backups and the use of Volume Shadow Copy.
Cobian Backup can be configured to encrypt and/or compress a backup into individual archives for each file, perform a simple copy without archiving anything, or archive the entire source location into a single file. When compressing a backup, you can also choose to split it into smaller sections, which is useful if you plan to use the files on something like a CD.
Backup scheduling can be very precise. Cobian Backup can run a backup job once, at startup, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or on a timer every so many minutes. There are several options for starting tasks before and/or after a backup job runs, including starting a programme, stopping a service, hibernating the computer, and running a custom command.
Cobian Backup also allows you to set a backup priority, run a job as a different user, send failed/success logs to one or more email addresses, and define advanced filtering options to include/exclude data from a backup. Unfortunately, Cobian Backup does not provide any restore options other than browsing the backup folder and extracting the files.
4 . FileFort Backup
FileFort Backup allows you to backup files to a BKZ file, a self-extracting EXE file, a ZIP file, or a standard mirror backup that simply copies the files to the destination.
A wizard guides you through the backup process, assisting you in determining which files should be backed up and where they should be saved. Multiple folders and/or individual files can be backed up to an external drive, a CD/DVD/Blu-ray, network folders, or another folder on the same drive as the source files.
When selecting data to include in a backup, you can filter the files to only include those that are under a certain size and/or are of a specific file type. You can encrypt a backup, schedule daily or weekly backups, and optionally run missed ones at startup. When you restore a backup, you have the option of restoring to the original location or a new one.
FileFort Backup is compatible with macOS (10.5 through 10.14) and Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
5 ..BackUp Maker
Individual files and/or folders can be backed up directly to a disc, a local or external hard drive, an FTP server, or a network folder using BackUp Maker. Simple selection allows you to back up common files and locations such as internet browser bookmarks, music, and videos.
Data can be included or excluded from a backup based on the name of a folder or file, as well as by using advanced filtering options with wildcards.
Backups created with BackUp Maker can be restricted to run only on specific days of the week or month, can be launched when you log on or off, can be scheduled to run every so many minutes, and can even be launched automatically only if a specific USB device is plugged in.
Conditional settings, such as only running a backup if a specific file or folder is found anywhere on a local, external, or network location, can be configured. You can also run a backup only if files have changed since a specific date, within the last so many days, or since the last full backup.
When restoring a backup, you can select any location on your computer and, if desired, only back up new files. BackUp Maker also includes encryption, file splitting, pre/post tasks, running missed tasks, custom compression, and the ability to assign shortcut keys to run backups without opening the programme interface.
We don’t like the fact that password protection isn’t included. Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, as well as Windows Server 2016-2003, are all supported by this backup software.
6 . 5 ..BackUp Maker
DriveImage XML can backup the system drive or any other attached drive to two files, which can then be saved to a network folder, local disc, or external drive. A DAT file is created to store the actual data on the drive, while a small XML file is created to store descriptive information about the backup.
Before performing a backup, you can choose to back up unused space, compress the files, and/or divide the backup into smaller sections. Unfortunately, you cannot specify the size of the slices when splitting a backup into pieces.
You can restore a backup image to a hard drive (the same size or larger than the original) or use DriveImage XML to browse through the backup. You can extract individual files, search the backup, and even directly launch some files without having to restore everything.
Backup scheduling is supported, but only with command line parameters, which is useful if you’re using Task Scheduler to automate a backup. DriveImage XML can also clone or backup a drive without creating an image file. This method, as well as the regular backup and restore described above, can be launched using the Live CD before Windows boots.
The programme will begin a backup during the wizard when you least expect it, so make sure you’re ready to begin the backup before clicking Next on the Backup screen. It is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2016, 2012, and 2008.
7 . COMODO Backup
COMODO Backup is a free backup programme with a plethora of useful features. It can backup registry files, files and folders, email accounts, specific registry entries, instant messaging conversations, browser data, partitions, or entire discs such as the system drive. Data can be saved to a local or external drive, CD/DVD, network folder, FTP server, or emailed to someone.
Creating a CBU, ZIP, or ISO file, as well as running a two-way or one-way sync, using a regular copy function, or creating a self-extracting CBU file, are all supported backup file types. Depending on the backup file type you use with COMODO Backup, you can specify whether it should be spliced into smaller pieces, compressed, and/or password protected.
The backup scheduling options are very specific, allowing it to run manually, at login, once, daily, weekly, monthly, when idle, or every so many minutes. Missed jobs can even be set to run in silent mode, which disables all notifications and programme windows.
COMODO Backup makes restoring files simple because you can mount the image file as a disc and browse through the backed up files as you would in Explorer, copying anything you want. You can also simply restore the entire backup image to its original location.
This free backup programme also allows for email notifications, file exclusions based on extension type, using Volume Shadow Copy to copy locked files, disk/partition mirroring, changing CPU and network priority, and running a custom programme before and/or after a backup job. It should be compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
8 . Redo Rescue
Individual files and folders cannot be backed up with Redo Rescue. Instead, by running from a bootable device such as a disc or flash drive, this programme backs up an entire hard drive at once. Redo Rescue can backup a drive to an internal hard drive, an external USB device, a shared network folder, or via FTP, SSH, or NFS.
A group of files backed up with this programme cannot be read as normal files. To restore the data, launch the programme again and select the drive to which you want to restore the files. The backup data will completely overwrite the destination drive.
Redo Rescue is best used when you want to be able to restore an entire hard drive. While this backup contains all of the files and programmes on the drive, it is not intended for individual file and folder restoration.
9 . Yadis! Backup
Yadis! Backup can backup folders to an FTP server or a local, external, or network drive. Any number of file versions are supported, and you can keep the original folder structure for better organisation. Subdirectories can also be excluded, and files can be included/excluded based on their extension.
The only options for scheduling backup jobs are to run them automatically or manually. There are no custom options, such as per hour or per day. Yadis! Backup can be configured to notify you when a file is created, removed, or changed. If any or all of these events occur, a backup job will be executed.
Even the Yadis settings you’ve changed! Backup can be set to back up to a specific folder when changes are made, ensuring that you do not lose your custom settings. You can only back up one folder at a time. Any additional folders must be created as a separate backup job.
We don’t like the fact that there are no easy ways to restore backed up files. To access backed-up files, simply navigate to the backup folder, which could be on an FTP server or a different drive. This application is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
10 . Everyday Auto Backup
Everyday Auto Backup is extremely simple to use. In just a few clicks, it can backup folders to and from a local disc or a network location. It includes the ability to exclude subfolders entirely, as well as exclude files from backups based on their name and/or file type. Multiple jobs can be scheduled at the same time, and backups can be performed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or manually.
There are no password or encryption options. While this is unfortunate, it also means that you can use the backed up data as real files, opening, editing, and viewing them as normal. The bare minimum is that you use one of the following operating systems: Windows 8, 7, Vista, or XP. It should also work in newer versions of Windows, such as Windows 11 and 10.