Work file backups: is syncing enough?
Seeing a document on two devices does not yet tell you how to recover it after a mistake.
Photo: Clay Banks / Unsplash
The desk is tidy and the day’s project folder is closed. One less visible question remains: if that file were deleted tomorrow, would you know where to recover it? Syncing makes documents easier to reach, but it can also carry a deletion across locations. Checking your home-working backups starts with your actual files and the way you would restore them.
01. Find out what is actually protected
Choose an important document and check its full location: a local folder, a team workspace or a synced folder. Note which account owns it. Seeing a file in your file manager does not tell you what the backup covers. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr recommends identifying the devices and data that need protection before choosing a solution.
On an employer-managed computer, ask IT which folders are covered, who can restore a file and how to report a loss. Do not add a copy to a personal cloud account or USB drive without permission. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr’s remote-working guidance calls for keeping personal and work use separate and following the organisation’s security instructions.
If you manage your own equipment, make a short inventory: working folder, backup location, last successful backup and recovery method. Update it when a project moves. This extends the approach in our guide to organising a desk by zones to the documents you keep digitally.
02. Separate access from recovery
Syncing keeps files in step across locations. On its own, it is not an independent copy preserved before a mistake. Microsoft explains, for example, that deleting a file from the OneDrive folder on your computer also deletes it from OneDrive. In a shared workspace, a deletion can affect other people too.
Version history and an online recycle bin provide other recovery options. OneDrive’s version history can restore an earlier version, but an administrator may have disabled it. Deleted-file recovery depends in part on the account type and its retention period; a file permanently removed from the OneDrive recycle bin cannot be recovered from that bin. Check your workspace’s rules instead of assuming files remain available indefinitely.
For an organisation’s critical data, the NCSC recommends going beyond these mechanisms and keeping an independent copy in another safe location or service. Arrange that with whoever is responsible for backups. It is not a reason to create extra accounts or export work documents on your own initiative.
03. Check the copy, then the way back
Look at the date of the last successful backup and check that a recent file is included. Set the frequency according to how much work you could accept having to redo. An enabled schedule and a completed copy are separate things to verify.
Next, arrange a trial with a harmless test file, involving IT if your computer is managed. Follow your tool’s procedure to recover it to a separate location where supported, then open the copy and check its contents. Do not delete the original to run the test. Restoring a version can replace the current file, so avoid improvised trials on shared documents; if you cannot isolate the test, ask for the appropriate method.
If your procedure permits an external drive, safely disconnect it once the copy finishes. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr and NCSC guidance recommends keeping removable backup media offline when not in use. This does not mean unplugging shared backup systems. Protect access to your backups too, and arrange a separate storage location that meets the same confidentiality requirements as the originals.
Keep a simple note of where to find the copy, when the last recovery test succeeded and who to contact. If a work file is already missing, contact IT promptly and follow the agreed recovery process.
