Overview
Using the CrashPlan app, you can download files that you backed up but are no longer on your device. This article explains how to protect your data by using retention settings to keep deleted files in your backup archive and how to restore deleted files.
Retention settings for deleted files
If you back up a file and later delete it from your device, the CrashPlan app keeps it in your backup archive for as long as indicated by your deleted files retention setting. This article assumes that the deleted files are still available in your archive based on your retention settings. However, your administrator or product plan may limit the amount of time that deleted files will be retained to 90 days or less.
Deleted files retention for ransomware
Some ransomware programs change file extensions, causing the CrashPlan app to think the original files were deleted. This results in the original files being removed at the time set by the Remove deleted files value in the Frequency and Versions settings. If your administrator or product plan allows, you can set deleted files to never be removed from your archive to prevent this.
To learn how to verify or change your deleted file retention setting, see our article on specifying version settings.
Download deleted files
You can download deleted files from both the CrashPlan app and the CrashPlan console.
CrashPlan app
The CrashPlan app stores deleted files based on your deleted file retention settings. To see or search for deleted files:
- From Home, navigate to a list of backed-up files:
- Click Restore Files.
- (Applies only if you have multiple devices) From the menu, select the device that originally backed up the files you want to restore.
- Click the options menu.
- Choose Include deleted files.
Deleted files are shown with a trash can icon to the right of the Date Modified column. - Select the files that you want to restore.
- Click Restore Files.
After you enable Include deleted files, your deleted files appear in the file browser and can be restored. You may also search for deleted files by entering a term in the search bar.
Learn more about downloading files from the CrashPlan app.
Download files from an earlier date
If you know when the files were deleted, you can view your entire backup as of a date before the files were deleted. From Restore Files, click As of Today to open a calendar and select a previous date. The Options screen refreshes with the files that were backed up as of that date, including any files that have since been deleted.
CrashPlan console
To display or search deleted files from the CrashPlan console:
- Sign in to the CrashPlan console.
- Select Devices.
- Locate the device containing the files you want to download and click Restore.
- Choose Display deleted files.
The file tree refreshes to include deleted files. - Select the files you want to download, and click Restore.
Click the arrow next to a file to view and select a specific version of that file to restore. Time stamps next to file versions are displayed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
For more information on web restores, see downloading files from the CrashPlan console.
Download files from an earlier date
If you know when the files were deleted, you can view your entire backup as of a date before the files were deleted. From Restore Files, click As of Today to open a calendar and select a previous date. The Options screen refreshes with the files that were backed up as of that date, including any files that have since been deleted.
Can I use CrashPlan to archive files deleted from my device?
Depending on your product plan, your retention settings may be set to never remove deleted files from your archive. Despite this, do not use CrashPlan as a data-archive service. There are several ways in which this can lead to inadvertent data loss:
- If you deselect a folder from your backup file selection, any deleted files that were stored there are also deleted from your archive.
- If you, or your administrator, change your deleted files retention setting, it could remove deleted files from your archive.
Since files deleted from your device have less visibility, it increases the possibility that changing your backup file selection or settings could result in accidental data loss.
Keep a copy of your files on your computer
Keep a copy of your files on the source device or drive to insure your data will remain available. With archive maintenance, the health of your backup is validated and checked for data corruption. If bad blocks of data are found, the destination self-heals by re-requesting the affected data blocks from the source device. Additionally, the Crashplan Essential, Professional and Crashplan for Small Business product plans have limited retention settings and cannot retain deleted files permanently in user archives.