Backing up your photos: the method to never lose a thing

There are two kinds of people: those who have already lost their photos, and those who are going to. The question isn't if, but when. A hard drive that gives out, a lost phone, a burglary, water damage, pressing the wrong key: disasters always strike at the worst moment, especially when you're not prepared.

Here's a simple method, tested by the professionals and accessible to everyone, so you never lose your memories again. Allow 1 hour for the initial set-up, then zero effort afterwards.

The 3-2-1 rule, the professional standard

The professionals use a simple rule, proven by decades of experience:

• 3 copies of your important data
• 2 different media (for example computer + external drive)
• 1 copy off-site (cloud, or a drive at a relative's)

Why this redundancy? Because every medium can fail. But the probability that all three fail at the same time is almost nil. If your house burns down, the cloud remains. If the internet has a problem, the external drive remains. If your computer crashes, you have two backups.

Copy 1 — On your computer

First copy: regularly import your photos from your camera and phone onto your computer, into an organised folder.

A simple structure that works: a Photos folder, then sub-folders by year and event.

Photos/
├── 2024/
│   ├── 01-christmas-holidays/
│   ├── 04-emma-birthday/
│   └── 07-italy-holiday/
├── 2025/
│   ├── 03-christening/
│   └── 08-julien-wedding/
└── 2026/
    └── 02-jules-birth/

On a Mac, the built-in Photos app does this automatically and organises by date. On a PC, you can use the Windows Photos app or simply file things manually in File Explorer.

Copy 2 — External hard drive

Buy an external USB hard drive (€60-100 for 2 TB, more than enough for most families), and copy your Photos folder onto it regularly.

Reliable brands: Western Digital My Passport, Seagate Backup Plus, LaCie (more expensive but sturdy).

Automatic method on Windows: the built-in "Windows Backup". Plug in the drive, open Settings → Accounts → Backup, choose the Photos folder, select the external drive, schedule a weekly backup. Never have to think about it again.

Automatic method on Mac: Time Machine. Plug in the drive and the Mac immediately offers to use it for Time Machine. Accept. Everything is backed up automatically every time you plug it in, and you can even go back in time to recover an older version of a file.

Copy 3 — The cloud

Third copy: the cloud. This is what saves you if your house burns down or you get burgled. Your photos are off-site, automatically.

The main options:

• iCloud (Apple): €0.99/month for 50 GB, €2.99/month for 200 GB, €9.99/month for 2 TB. Ideal if you're 100% Apple.
• Google Photos: €1.99/month for 100 GB, €9.99/month for 2 TB (Google One plan). Excellent search engine that finds photos by their content.
• OneDrive (Microsoft): included if you have Microsoft 365 (1 TB for €7/month, which also includes Word/Excel). Good value for money.
• Synology Photos: if you have a NAS at home (~€300 to buy), your own personal cloud with no subscription. The recommended solution for serious amateur photographers.

My default recommendation: Google Photos for most people. Good quality, good price, works on every device, smart search (you type "sea" or "dog" and it finds your photos).

Special case: iPhone and Android

Your phone photos are just as important as those from a camera. More so, even: your phone is what you take the most photos with.

iPhone: turn on iCloud Photos (Settings → your name → iCloud → Photos → turn on). All your photos are automatically backed up to iCloud. If you have a lot of photos, get the 200 GB plan (€2.99/month) — the free 5 GB is invariably not enough.

Android: turn on Google Photos (already installed on most Android phones). Automatic backup over Wi-Fi.

In both cases, regularly check (once a month) that the backup is up to date. Go into the app and look at the date of the last photo synced.

Special case: professional photographers

If you're a photographer (weddings, events, portraits) and your photos are also your livelihood, 3-2-1 isn't enough. My recommendations:

• NAS RAID 1 or 5 at home (Synology DS923+): internal double redundancy
• Encrypted cloud on top (Backblaze B2, Wasabi, from €5/TB/month)
• Immediate backup to 2 memory cards simultaneously during the shoot (most professional cameras allow this)
• Long-term storage on external drives, archived and kept elsewhere

The 5 mistakes to avoid

1. "I've got an external drive, I'm fine." No. A single backup = 0 backups. The external drive can fail just like the original.
2. Not testing the restore. Once a year, try to recover a photo from your backup. That confirms it actually works.
3. Keeping the originals and the backups in the same place. If everything is in the same room, a burglary or water damage takes it all.
4. Relying on the free 5 GB of iCloud. Not enough after 6 months of use. Invest €3/month, it's well worth it.
5. Procrastinating. "I'll do it this weekend". The crash always comes first.