This article delves into the best incremental backup software solutions, explaining their features, benefits, and step-by-step guides on how to use them. Incremental backups offer the unique advantage of only backing up the changes made since the last backup, saving both time and storage space.
“So I'm looking for some backup software that I can backup certain content that I want. And I would like the software to only backup files that have been changed, instead of a whole new backup and such. So is there a backup program that is simple and I can have multiple backups, and they will backup whenever I want them to, and doesn't have a file type that all the backup is in? And when backup, if nothing has changed, it won't backup, and if there are changes, it'll add new content instead of making a whole separate backup.”
– Question from Tom’s HARDWARE
In today’s tech-driven world, we store a lot of important data on our computers, like confidential documents, photos, and videos. To protect this data, regular backups are essential in case something goes wrong.
To save disk space and time, many people prefer incremental backups. But what exactly is incremental backup? How does it work, and what software should you use? This article will help answer those questions.
If you're looking for reliable best incremental backup freeware, AOMEI Backupper Standard is a great option.
AOMEI Backupper works on all Windows PCs and allows you to easily back up and restore important files to destinations like internal/external hard drives, USB drives, Cloud Backup, and NAS.
With its simple interface, AOMEI Backupper supports full, incremental, and differential backups. It can back up your operating system, files, disks, partitions, and cloud data on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule to fit your needs.
Keep in mind, that an incremental backup requires a full backup to be done first before you can start creating incremental backups.
โ Automatically create incremental backup
Step 1. Here we take Disk backup for example, select Backup in the left menu, and then tap Disk Backup. You can choose other backup types according to your real needs.
Step 2. On the Disk Backup page, click "Add Disk" to select the disk you want to back up.
Step 3. Choose a location where you want to store the backup.
Step 4. You can enable "Schedule Backup" and set it to run automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
In the "Backup Scheme" section, you'll see that incremental backups are enabled by default. After the initial full backup, only the changes made since the last backup will be backed up automatically.
Step 5. Click "Start Backup" to begin the process.
๐ You can upgrade to the Professional edition to enjoy more features:
♦ Backup encryption: You can protect your backup by setting a password, ensuring no unauthorized access to your data. ◊ Advanced schedule types: In addition to daily, weekly, and monthly backups, you can set triggers like event-based backups or backups that start when a USB is plugged in.โโโโโโโ ♦ Differential backup: This method only backs up changes made since the last full backup, making recovery easier because it requires just the full backup plus any differential backups.โโโโโโโ ◊ Backup retention policy: Enable the "Automatic Backup Cleanup" feature to automatically remove old backup files, helping you save disk space.
โ Manually create incremental backup
You can also run incremental backup once manually. Just complete the first full backup without schedule, then on the Home tab, click on the task and choose Backup > Incremental Backup.
An incremental backup is a type of backup where after a full backup or a previous incremental backup, each subsequent backup only backs up files that have been added or modified compared to the previous one.
Pros: The advantages of incremental backups are quite outstanding. Since it backs up only changed data, it does not take much time and disk space each time.
Cons: However, when restoring all the data, you have to restore each backup set in turn, which is relatively complicated and takes a longer time to restore.
The full backup is exactly what the name implies: It is a full copy of your entire data set. Although full backups arguably provide the best protection, most of us don't use them on a daily basis because they are time-consuming and often require a lot of disk or tape capacity.
Differential backup: A differential backup is similar to an incremental backup in that it starts with a full backup and subsequent backups only contain data that has changed. The advantage that differential backup offers over incremental backups is a shorter restore time.
To find out which is better incremental or differential backup, you can click the link for more details.
Q1: What is the difference between incremental and differential backups?
A1: Incremental backups only back up the data changed since the last backup, whether it was full or incremental. Differential backups back up all changes made since the last full backup, even if incremental backups have been taken in between.
Q2: Can I restore individual files from an incremental backup?
A2: Yes, you can restore individual files from an incremental backup. Most backup software allows you to browse and restore specific files, not just full system restores.
Q3: Is cloud storage necessary for incremental backups?
A3: While cloud storage is not mandatory, it provides an additional layer of security by storing backups off-site, protecting against data loss due to hardware failure or disasters.
Now that you understand the basics of incremental backups and know about the top incremental backup tool—AOMEI Backupper—you can save both time and disk space by only backing up the data that's changed. If you upgrade to a premium version, you’ll get access to advanced features like backup encryption, event-based scheduling, differential backups, and automatic cleanup of old backups.
AOMEI Backupper is not just an excellent free backup tool, but it also offers cloning capabilities. You can easily clone Windows 11 to another hard drive, such as an HDD, SSD, or USB, with just a few clicks. It’s truly an all-in-one data protection solution—download it and give it a try today!