Imagine losing all your family photos. The funny videos you and your friends created and posted online. Video of your kids’ births. The novel you’ve been working on and off for years. Imagine losing all of it, forever, never to be recovered. World Backup Day was March 31 and was intended to remind all of us about the importance of protecting our most precious digital information. It’s a day to think about what is important to you. What can’t you give up? And how you can safeguard your critical data.
Backup isn’t just for businesses
Awareness is the most common reason for not regularly backing up your personal data. According to a 2025 Western Digital survey conducted by Researchscape, people who don’t back up their personal data don’t think they need to (36 percent of respondents), think they don’t have enough storage space (30 percent) or feel it takes too much time (29 percent).
This line of thinking is typical human nature. People just don’t think something bad is going to happen to them, and they don’t think about backing up their personal data until it is too late. According to the same survey, 28 percent have lost important data due to a device failure, accidental deletion or cyberattack but couldn’t recover it. Thirty-five percent lost data but were able to recover it from a device or backup.
The goal on World Backup Day is to help educate and ensure that everyone has the right strategy, the right equipment and the expertise to reliably protect their information.
Precious data isn’t just photos, videos and memories
It’s also important to remember that your personal data isn’t just photos and videos of our loved ones and celebrated events. Important documents such as tax forms, birth and marriage certificates, contracts, vehicle registrations and more are now often digital – sitting on personal computers and in the cloud. These documents are not always critical for everyday life, but are needed for authentication, proof of ownership and other infrequent requests. Not having to track them down or request additional copies every time something comes up saves time and a lot of heartache.
We’re also content creators now, too. We record entertaining videos, post passionate opinions and create meaningful art that moves us. But it can all be gone in an instant. On top of that, many of us also have side gigs – whether it’s crafting one-of-a-kind jewelry, trading collectable cards, driving for a rideshare company or providing lawn care services. Imagine losing all your business records, customer lists and marketing resources. Could you recover?
5 Tips
The important thing to remember about backups is that you hope you never need them. But if you do, ensuring you have reliable, up-to-date copies of your most critical digital information is invaluable.
1. Follow the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy
The 3-2-1 backup strategy is a resilient approach to data protection used by consumers and businesses alike. While being a simple concept, it is a strong basis for successful data protection. The strategy is simple: Keep three copies of your data on two different media types and make sure you have at least one copy stored off site. This includes the original data, a copy stored on an external or portable hard drive and a copy uploaded to the cloud. Diversifying your backup methods reduces the likelihood of all three copies being impacted by a single event.
2. Rely on at least one mobile storage media
It’s important that at least one copy is kept on a storage device that you can take with you in an emergency. Today’s portable external hard drives are compact enough to handle most personal data needs in a mobile form factor. Keeping a drive in your go bag is a good best practice – especially if you live in an area prone to natural disasters.
3. Don’t forget to back up in the cloud
The best thing about the cloud is that it can be accessed anywhere. It doesn’t matter if your desktop goes up in flames or your tablet gets run over. Backing up your data to a cloud data storage site makes it easy to get back up and running when your device is recovered, or a new device is eventually procured. Just remember that one copy somewhere isn’t enough protection – don't let the cloud be your only solution.
4. Automate and schedule regular backups
Backing up your data isn’t a one-time thing. Our digital information is always changing, and it’s important to make sure you have a copy of your latest versions. Automated and scheduled backups allow you to set and forget your backup processes, ensuring that your up-to-date data is being protected at all times.
5. Test, test and test some more
All the backups in the world are no help unless the data is actually recoverable. Backups can fail. Data gets corrupted. Cloud accounts are lost or forgotten. It’s important that you confirm the success of your backups on a regular basis and practice the recovery process. Knowing that you’ve had success in the past will make things go easier and faster when the real emergency hits.
Back up what you can’t give up
Backups aren’t just for businesses. People need to make sure their most precious information is always backed up – including data we cherish (personal photos and videos), data we need (documents and certificates) and data we create (side gig documents, digital art, social media content). It’s important to follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy, including one mobile storage copy and one copy in the cloud. You should also schedule regular backups and test that the data is recoverable. World Backup Day is just one day of the year, but good, reliable backup strategies are forever. Don’t lose the data that you can’t give up.
Clinton Lee is a global senior manager of consumer products for Western Digital (www.westerndigital.com).