Create, modify, and remove backup sets in the CrashPlan app

This article explains how to create, change, and remove backup sets using the CrashPlan app.

For an explanation of what backup sets are and what each one controls, see Backup sets.

Administrators configuring backup sets for an organization should instead see Configure device backup settings.

Before you begin

• Your administrator must permit you to add and remove backup sets. If the options described in this article are unavailable, contact your administrator.
• If you intend to back up more than one set to the same destination, review How exclusions and retention settings apply across backup sets first. All sets using a destination back up into a single archive for the device, which affects how file exclusions, retention settings, and restore behave.
• If your goal is a redundant copy of your data, or the ability to restore one group of files independently, review Backup set best practices before creating a set. Both outcomes require an additional destination, not an additional set.

Create a backup set

1. Sign in to the CrashPlan app.
2. Click the down caret ⌄ next to the device name.
3. Select Add Backup Set.
4. Configure the name, file selection, and destination for the backup set.
5. Click Add Set.

The app presents only these three options when creating a set. Priority, backup schedule, and file exclusions are configured after the set exists, as described in Modify a backup set.

Administrators creating a backup set in the CrashPlan console can configure every setting at the point of creation. See Configure device backup settings.

Modify a backup set

In the CrashPlan app, you can change a backup set's name, priority, file selection, backup schedule, file exclusions, and destinations.

Other settings, including backup frequency and version retention, are configured in the CrashPlan console. See Organizations - Device Backup Defaults - Backup settings reference.

1. On the Home screen, click the Backup Set Settings button (gear icon) for the set you want to change.
2. Change the settings you want to update.
3. Click Save.

To change which files are included in a set, click Manage Files for that set on the Home screen instead. Removing files from a set deletes them from your archive, so review Remove files from a backup set before deselecting anything.

Remove files from a backup set

To deselect files, click Manage Files for the set on the Home screen, clear the files and folders you no longer want to back up, and Save the new selection. For full instructions, see Change the file selection.

You must keep a file selected if you want it to remain in the backup. Deselect a file only if you want it removed from the backup. Retention settings do not change this, as they apply to files you delete from your device rather than to files you deselect.

A file that is already backed up is only backed up again if it changes, so unchanged files do not slow down ongoing backups.

For when deletion from the archive takes place, see Archive maintenance.

Remove a backup set

For a step-by-step procedure that moves files into another set first, see Can't delete a backup set.

1. On the Home screen, click the Backup Set Settings button (gear icon) for the set you want to remove.
2. Select Delete Backup Set at the bottom of the settings page.
3. Select I understand in the warning dialog.
4. Click Remove.

If Delete Backup Set is unavailable, you are most likely attempting to remove the default backup set, which cannot be deleted. See Can't delete a backup set.

Related articles

• Backup sets
• Backup set best practices
• Can't delete a backup set
• Change the file selection
• Can I use CrashPlan to archive files I delete from my device?