Nearly everyone has, at one point or another, felt the panic that comes when an important document goes missing or is corrupted. It’s frustrating to lose hours of work because of a simple mistake – especially when it is an easily avoidable one. Today (March 31st) is World Backup Day, which encourages people to create a second copy of all their important files that can be kept somewhere safe. These files could be family photos, videos, emails or for teachers, all critical lesson plans and assessment documents for the year.
Why does backing up your files matter? According to the World Backup Day website, 30% of people have NEVER backed up their important documents, and even if they are meticulous about not deleting files, problems can still arise due to computer viruses. The good news is that there are two easy ways to back up your files and prevent future stress and hassle.
- Back up to a USB/external hard drive: the easiest and most obvious solution is to create a copy of your important files on a USB or external hard drive. This way, you maintain a copy of your documents on a device that you can keep separate from your main computer. This is a great safety net against accidentally deleting files or getting harmful viruses.
- Back up online: Uploading your documents to an online drive such as Google Drive or Dropbox means that a copy of your documents can be accessed remotely, from any location or computer, at any time. Not only can this be a safer option than the USB method, but it is less hardware to carry around and also allows for collaboration on documents – something that you might want to consider using with your students or encourage them to check out!
To learn more about World Backup Day or how to back up your files, visit their website. Do you have any tips for backing up your important files? Let us know in the comments below.