Having backups of your data is extremely important. You never know when your PC is going to die on you and you might lose all your data, so it's essential to make sure you won't suddenly lose all of it. There are plenty of solutions for backing up your data, including some cloud software, but finding the perfect one is hard, especially if you're trying to save money with a free option.

But you have to hunt no more. If you're looking for free backup software, SyncBack (formally called SyncBackFree, since there are paid versions) is the program for you. Anyone with a Windows PC should give this one a whirl since it's completely free and has a lot of tools at your disposal.

Backup, mirror, or sync your files

Finding the perfect backup solution for you

One of the great things about SyncBack is that you have total control over how it operates, starting with the type of backup you want to make. There are three main types of operations:

• Backup: Copies new files from a source to the destination. No files are deleted from the destination.
• Mirror: Matches all changes from a source on the destination. If the destination includes files not in the source, those files are deleted.
• Sync: Ensures that the files in the source and destination folders are always the same.

By letting you choose the preferred mode of operation, SyncBack already offers way more options than a lot of typical backup software. What's more, because you can create multiple backup profiles, you can choose to have different types of operations for different folders and files, so the solution you end up with is just right for your specific needs. You could even have two profiles with different actions for the same folder.

For example, say you generally want to keep the source and destination in sync, but at one point you want to delete some files from both sources. You could have a sync profile that makes both folders constantly the same, but also a mirror profile that allows you to force files to be deleted from the destination folder, too. There's a lot of versatility here that lets you do exactly what you want.

Scheduled and manual backups

And a ton of other options

On top of changing the type of sync or backup you want to perform, SyncBack also has a ton of configuration options for almost everything about how it works. By default, each profile you create is a manual backup, so whenever you want to backup your files, you just run the profile. Even then, if you want to run it on demand, you can create a hotkey to quickly run a specific profile and run it at any time. But if you're a "set it and forget it" type of person, then you can also automate the backups. SyncBack uses the Task Scheduler in Windows to allow you to create a scheduled backup with whatever frequency you prefer. It's a great option to have.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to options in SyncBack. One cool feature is group profiles. Since each profile is only meant to sync one folder, if you want to sync files in completely different locations, you'll need separate profiles, but you can create group profiles so that all the profiles within are run at the same time, rather than sequentially.

You can also enable things like compression for files copied, decrypt files when they're copied, change whether you want files to be copied when syncing two folders or if the mismatched file should be deleted, and even enable a rudimentary form of ransomware detection. Basically, you can choose a file that should never change (both on the source and destination), and if any changes are detected, the program assumes ransomware may ahve infected your files and stops the backup to prevent data loss. There are a ton of options here.

It even (kind of) works with OneDrive

Back up online

SyncBack is fully free app, but there are paid versions of the software with some extra features, like backing up to Google Drive or Box. The free version of SyncBack works locally, in your network, or through an FTP server, but you have to set it up yourself. It's still a good way to back up files to a different device, whether it's a USB drive or some kind of server.

But if you want to back up certain files to a typical cloud service, you can leverage Windows 11 and 10's integration with OneDrive to make things easier for yourself. If you're running OneDrive, your cloud files are treated as local files, so you can set your OneDrive folder as your destination location. SyncBack won't upload the files itself, but Windows will take care of syncing them to the cloud once you've put files in the OneDrive folder, so you can still kind of use SyncBack as a sort of cloud backup tool without having to use OneDrive's built-in all-encompassing backup tool.

Start backing up your files now

In an age where we depend on technology more than ever, ensuring your files are always accessible and safe is more important than ever. And while many backup tools will ask you for money for more advanced features, or they just may not offer them at all, SyncBack has extremely robust functionality at no cost whatsoever. If you don't have a backup for your files yet, this is a great way to start.