5 Common Email Backup Mistakes and How I Fixed Them

Backing up my emails became a necessity after a terrifying accidental deletion. It happened unexpectedly, and I realized how important it was to keep a backup of crucial conversations and attachments. Unfortunately, like many others, I made a few common email backup mistakes in the process. If you’re someone who’s either backing up your emails poorly—or not backing them up at all—these mistakes could come back to bite you. Here’s a look at the top five mistakes I made when backing up my emails and how I fixed them.

1. Waiting Too Long Between Backups

It’s easy to get complacent about backups, thinking that your emails are safe in your inbox. This was exactly what I did, until one day I realized that I had gone a full month without backing up my emails. That’s when disaster struck. I lost an entire email thread that contained important information I needed for work. The longer you wait between backups, the more risk you take. You may get locked out of your account or accidentally delete an important email.

I fixed this by making my backup routine more consistent. Instead of monthly backups, I started doing it weekly, and sometimes even daily when I had critical conversations. The process is simple and doesn’t take much time. For Gmail users like myself, Google Takeout is a convenient tool that allows you to export your email data and store it in a secure location—either on an external hard drive or in the cloud.

2. Only Backing Up Select Folders

Another mistake I made was thinking that backing up only certain folders would be enough. At first, I only backed up emails from my Inbox and ignored other folders like Sent or Promotions. However, important information can hide in places you wouldn’t expect. One day, I realized I’d lost several important attachments from my Sent folder simply because I hadn’t thought to back it up.

Now, I back up everything—every folder in my email account. While I prioritize important data, I follow the rule of backing up everything that’s important twice (once in the cloud and once locally). Larger files or attachments, like contracts or documents with multiple pages, should always be backed up in multiple places to ensure they’re recoverable if anything goes wrong.

3. Not Testing If Your Backups Restore Properly

Backing up your emails is only half the job; testing those backups is equally important. In the early days of my email backups, I assumed everything was fine, but when I tried to restore a backup, I found out that the files were corrupted or improperly exported. That was a wake-up call for me. I learned the hard way that assuming your backups are working without actually checking them can leave you in a difficult situation.

Now, I make sure to test my backups periodically. After exporting my emails, I open the backup files to confirm that everything is accessible and loads properly. If you’re backing up your emails regularly, make it a habit to verify your backups so you’re not left in a bind when you actually need them.

4. Counting on a Single Backup Location

When I first started backing up my emails, I relied on just one method: storing my backups on my external hard drive. While this seemed sufficient at the time, I soon realized that relying on a single backup location is risky. Hard drives can fail, get corrupted, or even be lost. What would I do if my only backup was lost or damaged?

To solve this issue, I adopted a more robust backup strategy. I started following the 3-2-1 backup rule, which is a proven method for secure data storage. This rule suggests that you keep three copies of your data (in this case, emails), two of which should be stored in different locations, and one of those locations should be offsite, like in a cloud service. This strategy ensures that even if one backup method fails, I’ll still have another available. Now, I keep copies both in the cloud and on my external hard drive, minimizing the risk of losing my emails.

5. Leaving Your Backups Unencrypted

The biggest mistake I made was neglecting to encrypt my backups. At first, I thought encryption was unnecessary, especially for email backups. However, as I started backing up more sensitive information, I realized that encryption is essential to protect your data from unauthorized access. You don’t want your backup files to be easily accessible to anyone who comes across them, especially when they contain private or confidential information.

To fix this, I started encrypting my email backups before storing them anywhere. While it might add an extra step, encryption is a simple way to ensure that even if someone gains access to your backup files, they won’t be able to open them without the proper key. I also made sure to store the encryption keys separately from the backup files to avoid accidentally losing both.

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Conclusion

Backing up your emails is an important habit, but it’s easy to make mistakes along the way. By waiting too long between backups, failing to back up all your folders, not testing your backups, relying on a single backup location, and leaving your backups unencrypted, you risk losing critical emails and information.

Once I fixed these mistakes, the process became much smoother, and I felt more confident that my emails were safe. Whether you’re backing up Gmail, Outlook, or any other email provider, these steps are applicable to ensure you can always retrieve your data when you need it. By following the tips in this guide, you’ll safeguard your important emails and avoid common pitfalls. Don’t wait until it’s too late—start backing up your emails properly today!