Secure and simple cloud backup

Q: How do I back up my computer to the cloud?

<p>With <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/backup"><u>Dropbox Backup</u></a>, you can automatically back up folders on your computer like your Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders. This ensures content is safely backed up to the cloud. With Backup, you can also back up your external hard drives to the cloud by getting prompted whenever you plug it in (available in select plans).</p>

Rest easy—we’ve got your back. Dropbox provides reliable backup storage for your files, photos, and videos, making them easy to recover—no matter what happens to your hardware.

Get started

A user selecting files to be backed up to the cloud in Dropbox

Go from idea to done with Dropbox

Store and share files. Sign and send documents. All with Dropbox.

Billed monthly

Billed yearly

Popular

For teams and professionals

Standard

$15 / user / month

Try for free

or purchase now

For 1 person or more
Starts at 3 TB for the team
Stay connected across all devices
180 days to restore deleted files
Transfer files up to 100 GB
Edit PDFs and get signatures
Brand your files to share
Password protect files
Get team folders for organization
Manage team sharing
Create groups and roles
Admin control

For companies

Advanced

$24 / user / month

Try for free

or purchase now

For 3 people or more
Starts at 15 TB for the team
Stay connected across all devices
1 year to restore deleted files
Transfer files up to 100 GB
Edit PDFs and get signatures
Brand your files to share
Password protect files
Get team folders for organization
Manage team sharing
Create groups and roles
Tiered-admin management
End-to-end encryption
Advanced key management
Compliance tracking
Single sign-on

For large organizations

Enterprise

Contact sales for pricing

Customize number of users
Customize storage
Transfer up to 250 GB
Enterprise-grade security
Integrations with best in-class security solutions
Live support from dedicated experts

Back up any file—anywhere, anytime

Whether you’re trying to back up an image collection, a large video, a CAD file, or entire folders, Dropbox provides a flexible backup service for keeping important files safe in your account.

The best cloud backup services deliver seamless cross-device access—and Dropbox lets you reach your files from any device, operating system or platform, so you can work and collaborate on projects with ease. No internet connection? No problem.

With Dropbox, you can work on files while offline, from your desktop computer, Android, iPhone, or iPad. Once you get back online, your files and folders will automatically sync with any edits you made when you weren’t connected.

Keep your files in sync

A collection of different types of files that will be backed up to Dropbox

Get extra assurance

Losing precious family photos or unintentionally deleting work files because your phone goes missing or your external drive stops working can be stressful. Accidents happen, but cloud-based backup from Dropbox helps protect your files with secure cloud storage that makes disaster recovery easier.

When you move or delete a file in your Dropbox folder or on the web, we’ll confirm it’s the action you want to take—that helps reduce the risk of accidental data loss. With flexible cloud backup solutions, your important files stay protected in the cloud and are easier to recover when needed.

Keep your files safe

Recover your files

If your files are accidentally deleted, lost, or updated too early, there’s no need to worry. With file recovery and version history, you can restore your deleted files or previous versions of work without missing a beat. By default, Dropbox stores all of your individual files, including early versions of files, for a full 30 days—or 180 days on Dropbox Standard and 1 year on Advanced and Enterprise plans.

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A user selecting a file in Dropbox to restore

A Dropbox user opens synced documents remotely on a laptop.

“Dropbox makes it easy to access documents from different devices and share files with teammates without sending large attachments. I also find the file syncing and backup useful for keeping important work files organized. The syncing is also useful because I don’t have to worry about keeping multiple copies of the same file.”

Read the full review

Abdul W.Technical Support Engineer

01/03

Frequently asked questions

File backup is a duplicate copy of your data that can be used to recover your files or even an entire hard drive after a data loss event.

Storage and backup serve different purposes—storage keeps files available for everyday use, while backup creates a separate copy you can restore if the original is lost, damaged, or overwritten. A cloud backup stores that recovery copy online on a network of off-site servers operated by a cloud storage provider.

Online backup keeps a duplicate copy of important content away from the original device, helping you recover it if your hardware is lost, damaged, or fails. Whether it’s important documents, work, or family photos and videos, storing a backup online means another copy is available when you need it.

With Dropbox Backup, you can automatically back up folders on your computer like your Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders. This ensures content is safely backed up to the cloud. With Backup, you can also back up your external hard drives to the cloud by getting prompted whenever you plug it in (available in select plans).

When you store your files to Dropbox, your files are synced across your devices and accessible in real time. With Dropbox Backup, your folders and files from your computer or external hard drives* are automatically backed up to the cloud and you can quickly recover your content if something goes wrong.

*select plans

It’s easy to store files from your phone in the cloud using the Dropbox mobile app. Once you’ve downloaded the Dropbox mobile app to your phone or tablet, you can create or upload files you’d like to save directly to Dropbox. Plus, any uploaded files sync with Dropbox on your iOS, Windows, and other connected devices. For more details read our how to back up iPhones article.

Dropbox can automatically upload and store your photos to the cloud by copying them from your mobile device or camera to your Dropbox folder.

With the camera uploads feature enabled, any photo or video you’ve taken with your mobile device will be saved to your Dropbox account (Dropbox Basic users must have the desktop app installed).

You can also store your existing photos in the cloud by uploading them to your Dropbox account.

Free cloud backup can be a useful starting point, but greater storage limits, backup frequency, retention periods, and recovery options are available on paid Dropbox plans.