Free software to backup files to external hard drive

This is another free tool that promises to undelete any files you may have accidentally deleted from your computer. It can restore files from a hard drive as well as an external drive and other storage devices such as memory sticks and pen drives.

It comes in both a portable and desktop version and is very simple to use. As long as the deleted data can be recovered, undelete will recover it for you. This free utility for Mac will help you get your missing data back in a number of ways.

It comes with multiple features that make data recover very easy. It is also a good choice to help you recover data from both internal and external hard drive and can be used to recover nearly all types of data. Although the appearance may seem to put off a user, Pandora Recovery is still the best software with the ability to identify deleted partitions or data from an external hard disk.

The wizard guides you throughout and chooses the best settings based on user input in scanning for the lost data. The stimulating feature of the program is the Surface Scan, which helps in bringing back files even from a formatted drive.

For an effective data recovery from any external hard drive connected to a Windows operating system, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a faultless tool. It handles most of the chores with ease. It offers assistance in identifying the undeleted content and partitions from an external drive connected to the computer. The free-to-use program is simple in nature and offers all the features that a major recovery tool possesses. Puran File Recovery is a new entrant into the world of free file recovery program.

There are a number of paid-for back software solutions available, but even better is that there are also free versions available so you can discover for yourself which software fits best for you.

And before we take a look at the best free backup software, it's also worth checking out the best disk cloning software and best data recovery software too. Secure, business-grade online backup for everyone, no strings attached. EaseUS Todo Backup Free has lots of bases covered: backing up individual files and folders, whole drives or partitions, or creating a full system backup. There's also a 'smart' option that automatically backs up files in commonly used locations, and you have the option of using cloud storage.

Backups can then be scheduled, running as incremental, differential or full backups as required see below for a full explanation of the differences. You can still run backups on a schedule, but lose the ability to have these backups triggered by various events — not something most people will miss. The same goes for command line-driven backups, PC-to-PC data transfer, and Outlook backup; they're all nice to have, but their absence is unlikely to be a deal-breaker.

A few features are exclusive the the premium version, but EasusUS Todo Backup Free is more than enough for just about everyone out there.

You can opt to back up your entire computer, partitions, select files and folders based on location, or files based on their type. Once that's done, just set a schedule and choose the type of backup you want to want to create and then leave the software to take care of things by itself.

That's not all — as the latter portion of its name suggests, this isn't just a backup tool. It's all very impressive. Once you've signed up for a free account, this free backup software is a thing of beauty. FBackup offers a choice of wizard and advanced modes. Whichever you choose, it's easy to create backup jobs comprising files and folders, which can be saved to local or network drives, removable disks, or Google Drive. Scheduling is available to keep your backups up to date. There are in-program ads suggesting you upgrade to the paid-for Backup4all, but thankfully they are relatively unobtrusive so hopefully you'll be able to ignore them if you're not interested.

The free version of the program lacks a few features, but these might be inconsequential, depending on your needs. Networking Software. Trending from CNET. Recover lost data from external hard drives. Hard Disk Sentinel Free to try.

Monitor, detect, test, diagnose and repair hard disk drive problems, performance degradation, and failures. Back up and restore photos, music, videos, documents, hard disk, and partitions. Backup one or more files or folders to external hard drives at intervals. Back up and restore your Windows system. Format multiple USB or flash drives. Recover data lost to viruses, malicious attacks, hardware failures, and operating system crashes.

Google Drive isn't a traditional backup tool by any means, it is cloud-based and just what you are able to back up will depend on how much online Google storage you have available. You're given a limited amount of space for free, and there are various ways to boost it without having to part with any money, but in reality Google Drive is going to be useful for backing up individual directories — not your whole system.

For backing up key files and folders, however, it's superb. You can easily specify any number of folders for the software to monitor, and any changes, additions or deletions are implemented near-instantaneously. As the name suggests, the software can be used to synchronize files between computers, and they are accessible through on any device via the Google Drive web app. An excellent, if slightly limited, backup tool. Confusingly, Google Drive is also sometimes called Google One, and additionally to run Google Drive you need to download the app Google Backup and Sync in order to set it running.

Additionally, you will need to be alert that when files and folders are backed up that they have a green tick next to them - if not, it means your files are not being backed up, something that has previously caught users out when Google updated the service.

Cobian Backup is the most advanced free backup tool around, and might be overkill for new users, but if you know exactly how you want to configure your backups then you can be confident it'll give you the flexibility you need. Cobian Backup can be used to create and schedule multiple backup jobs, and files can be archived to another local hard drive, network location or, if you have access to one, an FTP server.

It can back up to multiple locations at the same time, so it's possible to run multiple backup jobs simultaneously. Backups can be compressed to save space, and there's optional encryption to keep your data secure. Cobian Backup loses when it comes time to restore data — there's no simple wizard to automate the process, so you're left on your own having to copy files back into place, decrypting and decompressing first if necessary.

Still, for backing up your most valuable data, this is one of the most comprehensive tools out there. A couple of other software applications you can consider are for cloud backup software.

Although you install the application on your PC or other device, your files are backed up in the cloud. This means not only do you have an easy way to recover those files if you PC or hardware fails, but you can also ensure that your backup is continuous, as well as accessible from any device through synchronization.

Microsoft OneDrive is the backup and sync storage option bundled with Microsoft Office There is a free version that allows up to 10GB of storage and there are paid options to upgrade, but this can prove expensive over the long-term if you want to backup and sync a sizable hard drive.