Restore a file or folder
Pick a point in time, tick what you want, choose where it goes, and press Start restore. Restore works in every edition.
On this page
Restore brings back one file, a folder or a whole backup from any point in time. It works in every edition, with a lapsed licence and during a paused trial.
Step 1: Choose a point in time#
- Click Restore in the left rail, or press Ctrl+R.
- Under Backups by job, click the job. With more than eight jobs, type part of its name in Find a job.
- Under Points in time, find the backup you want: usually the newest, or the one from before the file went wrong.
- Click Browse on its row (or double-click the row).
Each row of Points in time is one restore point:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| When | the date and time, how long ago, and the type: Full, Incremental, Differential or Mirror |
| Changes | the files that backup stored; under it, restores N counts everything the point brings back |
| Size | how much the point restores |
| Status | Verified or Not verified, Encrypted with a lock, or Drive not connected / Share offline when its destination is away |
The Last 14 days strip above the table has one box per day: dark for a full backup, light for the others. Click a day to pick its point.
Tip
Not sure which backup holds the file? Use Find: it searches every backup of every job at once.
See Searching every backup you have made.
Step 2: Tick what to restore#
The point opens as a list of its folders, the way they were on your PC.
- Click a folder's name to open it. The path above the list shows where you are; Up one level goes back.
- Tick the box beside each folder or file you want. A ticked folder brings back everything inside it.
The bar at the bottom counts what you ticked, for example 3 items selected, with Clear. With nothing ticked it reads Everything in this backup, and the whole point is restored.
Warning
With nothing ticked and Original location chosen, Start restore puts the whole point back where it came from.
Search inside the backup#
Type a name in Search this backup at the top. It looks in the point you opened, including the files an incremental or differential point takes from the backups before it.
All versions searches every backup of every job. Each result shows its job and how long ago it was backed up. A result from the point you opened has a tick box; a result from another backup has a button that opens that backup with the file ticked.
Click a file's name to see Versions of this file on the right, with Preview and, for the other backups, Restore this one. See Versions of a file, and previewing before you restore.
Step 3: Choose where it goes#
Under Restore to, pick one:
| Option | Where the files go |
|---|---|
| Original location | back where they came from |
| Another folder, keeping the tree | into a folder you pick, with the whole original path under it |
| One flat folder | every file straight into one folder |
For the last two, type the Folder or click Browse…. Then check three things below it:
- If a file already exists: leave Replace only if the backup is newer, unless you want only what is missing (Never replace) or exactly the backup (Always replace).
- Restore dates and attributes stays on.
- For an encrypted backup, type its Password. A wrong one stops the restore before anything is written.
The details are in Where restored files go.
Step 4: Start the restore#
Click Start restore. The run page shows the progress and four counters: Restored, Skipped, Replaced and Failed.
A restore can be stopped, but not paused. Stop asks Stop this restore?: The files already restored stay where they are. Start the restore again later to bring back the rest.
When it ends, the page becomes the restore report. Restore more takes you back to the same point with the same options. See The restore report.
Each file is checked against its checksum before it is written, so a damaged copy or a wrong password never replaces a good file.
From a job's Files tab#
On the Jobs page, click a job, then its Files tab. Type two characters: every copy of every matching file the job holds is listed with its size and date. Restore… opens that backup with the file ticked.