Thousands of CrashPlan users back up to CrashPlan Central, our secure cloud storage system. When you’re backed up to CrashPlan Central, your backups are offsite, away from any mishaps that could befall your computer. Online backup to CrashPlan Central is included in CrashPlan+ (learn more about CrashPlan plans here).

If you like the idea of offsite protection, but you’re not ready for the cloud, CrashPlan has you covered – for free. One of CrashPlan's standout features is the ability for friends to back up to each others' computers. (Don’t worry… they can’t see your data and you won’t be able to see theirs.) All you and your friend have to do is download and install CrashPlan. There is no charge for friend backup.

Your friend's computer needs to be powered up when you want to restore files. Because backing up and restoring takes place over the Internet, the initial backup and a complete restore could take a while.

Your friend has invited you to back up with CrashPlan. It's free to back up to each other using your own computers. Follow the steps in the Accept a CrashPlan Invite tutorial to get started backing up.

1. Open CrashPlan
2. Go to Friends.
3. Click Invite.
   This opens your default web browser and takes you to My Account at www.crashplan.com.
4. In the text box, type your friend's email address.
5. Click Add.
6. From the Friendly Backup dropdown, choose the computer you'd like your friend to back up to.
7. Click Confirm and Send Invitation to send an email to your friend.

What Happens After Sending the Invitation

Your friend receives an email message that explains what CrashPlan is and how to back up to each other. The message also includes a backup code so your friend can back up to the computer you chose to offer (step 5).

For full details and instructions for your friend, see our Accept a CrashPlan Invite tutorial.

After your friend has accepted your invitation and registered using the email address you provided, you friend's computer will appear in the list of backup destinations.

1. Launch CrashPlan by clicking the CrashPlan icon on your desktop (Windows) or in the task bar (Mac).
2. (Optional) If you want to change the files to include in the backup, in the Files to Back Up section of the Backup tab, click Change.
3. Select the friend to whom you want to back up, then Start Backup.

On the Backup tab, you can check on the status of your backup, stop a backup in progress or resume a paused backup.

Your friend can also go directly to the application or be invited through My Account on www.crashplan.com.

If you want to back up to someone who is already using CrashPlan, ask your friend to tell you the Backup Code that appears on the Friends page, then follow these steps.

1. Click the Friends tab.
2. Under Is Your Friend Already Running CrashPlan, enter your friend's Backup Code.
   
   
3. Click Start Backup.