Backing up
Jobs: what to protect, where it goes, how it is kept, and running them.
19 articles
What a backup job isA job says what to back up, where, how and when. Every run of it writes a set you can restore from.Choosing what to back upSmart items, the folder tree, typed paths and single files, the apps found on this PC, and the .gitignore offer for code.Choosing where backups goAn internal drive, a USB drive, a network share or an S3 bucket: how each is picked, checked, and found again under any drive letter.Backing up to a NAS or network shareThe share path, which account the job uses, the destination test, an optional drive letter, and what happens when the NAS does not answer.Backing up to S3-compatible cloud storageAmazon S3, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, MinIO or any S3-compatible bucket: the profile, the folder in the bucket, the storage class, and the limits to know.The four backup typesFull, incremental, differential and mirror: what each run writes, what a restore reads, and which to choose.Compression and encryptionOff, Balanced or Max; AES-256 with a password nobody can recover; and the two options that make thousands of small files fast.Retention: how long backups are keptThree numbers in one sentence: keep N sets, a new full after N runs, delete sets older than N days. And the chain rule that keeps every set restorable.Filters and exclusionsEight ready-made presets, seven kinds of rule, a scope for each, and a tester that shows what the rules catch before you save.Templates and copying a jobSix templates that fill the wizard in, copying an existing job's settings, and duplicating a job from the list.Running, pausing and stopping a jobThe ways to start a run now, what the live view shows, what Pause and Stop do, and changing limits while a backup runs.Reading a run reportWhat a finished backup did: the result, six counters, four tabs, the timeline and the destination, and the three buttons that act on a list.The Activity page: every run and restoreEvery backup and restore with its result, in one list you can search and filter, with the log and the fix one click away.Editing a jobChange any part of a job at any time: which changes start a new full backup, renaming, turning a job off, and drafts.Moving your backups to a bigger driveTwo safe ways to move a job to a new drive: start fresh and keep the old drive for its history, or copy the job's folder across and carry on.Exporting and importing a jobA job is one JSON file. Export it to move it to another PC or keep a copy of your setup, and import it back in one click.A desktop shortcut that runs a jobOne double-click starts a backup, opening GBM AI first if it is not running.Deleting a jobDeleting a job removes the job and its run reports. It never removes the backups the job made.OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive foldersFiles that live only in the cloud are downloaded for the backup and made online-only again, so your disk does not fill.