Overview
To help protect your data from loss, CrashPlan offers backup versioning and retention options, but there are times that you may want to delete files from your backup archive. This article explains ways that you can remove files from a backup destination or remove a backup destination entirely.
Considerations
- On Mac devices, deleted files are not removed from the backup archive until a file verification scan runs. To help ensure the scan runs on a regular basis, make sure the Verify selection every setting is scheduled for a time when the device is on.
Options to remove files
The CrashPlan app provides three ways to remove files from your backup destinations:
- By deselecting files, you can choose specific files and folders that you no longer want to back up.
- By removing files that have been deleted from your computer, you can reduce the size of your backup archive and make your backup more efficient.
- By removing a backup destination, you can completely remove an archive from a backup destination and delete all backups stored there.
Each of the methods described in this article involve deleting files or destinations from your backup. Use caution when following these steps as there is no way to recover your files once they are removed from your backup.
Deselect files
There are times that you may choose to remove specific locations or files from your backup. For example, because the CrashPlan app automatically selects your entire user folder for backup, you may want to remove your downloads folder from your backup selection to prevent every downloaded file from backing up. Backing up unnecessary files and folders uses more bandwidth, more storage at the destination, and slows down the backup of your other important files.
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You should only deselect files that you want to permanently and immediately remove from your backup archive.
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There is no way to recover deselected files.
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You will lose any historical versions associated with the deselected folders and files.
Steps
- Go to Manage Files.
-
(Optional) Click the options menu
and select Show hidden files to view hidden files. - Navigate to the drive, folder, or files that you want to add or remove, then:
- Deselect the check box next to any item you want to delete from your backup.
- Select an empty box to add an item to your backup.
- A minus sign
indicates that a subfolder within this folder is selected for backup. New subfolders within the folder will not be automatically added to your backup file selection. - A check mark
indicates that this folder is selected for backup. New subfolders within the folder will be automatically added to your backup file selection.
- Click Save.
If you deselected any files or folders, the Delete Files from Backup warning displays. - If applicable, select I understand to confirm you want to delete deselected files from your backup.
- If applicable, select Delete.
After changing the file selection, the CrashPlan app synchronizes the files selected for backup with the files already backed up to that destination.
The deselected files will be removed from your backup archive the next time maintenance runs on the destination. (Maintenance runs every 60 days.) To manually start maintenance and remove the files more quickly, see Remove unwanted versions immediately below.
Remove files that have been deleted from your computer
The default setting for deleted file retention for CrashPlan for Small Business is 90 days. This gives you 90 days to restore any files in your backup file selection that are no longer on your computer. To remove deleted files more frequently, follow the steps below.
If you would like to remove individual files or folders from your backup, but you do not want to change your deleted files setting, you must:
- Restore the deleted file.
- Deselect the files from your backup selection using the steps above.
Considerations
- Removing deleted files more frequently reduces the size of your backup archive and makes your backup more efficient.
- Because deleted files are kept for a maximum of 90 days, do not use the CrashPlan app as a data archive service.
Steps
- Sign in to the CrashPlan app.
- Navigate to backup sets settings:
- Click
Settings. - Click Backup Sets.
- Click
- Next to Frequency and Versions, click Change.
- Change the Remove deleted files setting to something more frequent, such as every 60 days.
In this example, any files deleted from your computer more than 60 days ago will be removed from your backup archive the next time maintenance runs on the destination. (Maintenance runs every 60 days.) To manually start maintenance and remove the files more quickly, see Remove unwanted versions immediately below. - Click Save.
Remove a backup destination
If you back up to multiple destinations, you may decide that you want to free up space at a destination by removing a destination from the backup set settings. This is also useful if one of your backup destinations is no longer available or has been decommissioned.
Steps
- Sign in to the CrashPlan app.
- Navigate to backup sets settings:
- Click Settings.
- Click Backup Sets.
- Click
- For Destinations, click Change.
- Deselect a destination.
- Click Save.
Remove unwanted versions immediately
When you remove files from your backup selection or change your version retention settings, the files are not actually removed from your archive until the next time archive maintenance runs on the destination. (Maintenance runs every 60 days.) If you want these files to be removed from your archive more quickly, run maintenance on the destination.
Steps
- Sign in to the CrashPlan app.
- Click Settings.
- Click Destinations.
- Click Run Maintenance.
The CrashPlan app sends a request to that destination to immediately remove unwanted versions from the backup archive.