Backing up staff laptops, not just the server
Important work often lives on laptop desktops and in Downloads, not on the shared drive. How to find the gaps, where OneDrive helps and what a laptop backup needs.
Many small businesses back up the server, the NAS or the shared drive, and assume that covers everything. Then a laptop dies, and it turns out the proposal someone spent a week on was on their desktop, the signed contracts were in Downloads, and the project folder never made it to the shared drive. People save work wherever is convenient. A backup plan has to cover where files actually are, not where the policy says they should be.
Where files really end up
Before choosing a tool, walk around the office (or ask remote staff) and look. On most laptops you will find important work in a few predictable places:
- The Desktop, used as a to-do pile.
- Downloads, where email attachments and client files land and often stay.
- Documents, or folders the user created directly on the C: drive.
- Application data: email archives (such as old Outlook PST files), accounting or design software projects, browser bookmarks and saved settings.
- USB drives and personal cloud accounts, which are a separate problem but worth noting.
Is OneDrive enough?
If you use Microsoft 365, OneDrive's Known Folder Move can redirect each user's Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders into OneDrive, so they sync to the cloud automatically. That is a sensible first step and fixes the most common gap. But it is important to understand what it does and does not do.
- It covers only those folders. Downloads, folders created elsewhere on the drive and application data are not included unless you move them.
- Sync is not the same as backup. If a file is deleted, overwritten or encrypted by ransomware on the laptop, that change syncs to the cloud too. OneDrive has a recycle bin, version history and a restore feature that can roll a whole OneDrive back to an earlier point within the last 30 days, which helps a lot, but these all have limits on how far back you can go.
- It depends on Microsoft 365 itself. If an account is deleted when someone leaves, or an attacker gets into the tenant, the OneDrive copy is affected as well.
For many small offices, OneDrive with Known Folder Move plus a separate backup of Microsoft 365 is the right combination. For others, especially where people store large or specialist files locally, a dedicated endpoint backup for laptops is worth adding.
What a laptop backup should do
- Run automatically in the background, without anyone remembering to plug in a drive.
- Work from anywhere. Staff who work from home or travel should be backed up over the internet, not only when they are in the office.
- Keep versions long enough that a file deleted or damaged weeks ago can still be recovered. Our guide on how long to keep backups covers how to choose.
- Be separate from the laptop and its user. The user should not be able to delete the backups, and ransomware on the laptop should not be able to reach them.
- Be encrypted, in transit and in storage, because laptop data often includes client and personal information.
- Report failures to someone who will act on them. A laptop that has not backed up for a month should raise an alert.
A simple plan for a small team
- Decide which folders on every laptop must be protected, and write it down.
- Turn on OneDrive Known Folder Move for Desktop, Documents and Pictures, if you use Microsoft 365.
- Ask people to stop keeping working files in Downloads, and include it in the backup anyway, because they will.
- Add a backup of Microsoft 365 itself, or an endpoint backup, or both, depending on how your team works.
- Make sure each laptop's drive is encrypted with BitLocker or FileVault, and that the recovery keys are stored safely, so a lost laptop is not also a data breach.
- Test it. Pick one laptop each quarter and restore a few files from a month ago. If it does not work, you want to find out now, not after a failure.
When a laptop fails before you are ready
If a laptop with unbacked-up data stops working, switch it off and do not keep trying to start it or run repair tools. A failing drive can get worse with each attempt. A data recovery service can often still retrieve the files, but the earlier it is handled properly, the better the chances. See our page on common laptop data loss situations.
How we can help
Our managed backup service can protect staff laptops, servers and Microsoft 365, with monitoring and regular restore tests. Call (213) 986-4855 to talk about what your team needs.