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- Date change rule:
- Every March 31
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World Backup Day urges everyone to secure their digital data every March 31. Don’t risk losing precious memories or critical documents to unforeseen crashes or cyber threats. Take action today: back up your files, educate yourself on best practices, and share the importance with others.
Want to sponsor World Backup Day? Learn how
Expected World Backup Day Deals
World Backup Day inspires many tech companies to offer special promotions on data storage solutions. While we await official 2027 promotions, history shows deals on external hard drives from brands like Western Digital and Seagate, cloud storage subscriptions from Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive, and backup software from Acronis and Carbonite. Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon typically feature discounts on a range of devices. We will update this page with confirmed live deals as March 31 approaches.
Platform Guide for World Backup Day
Tag National Today (linkedin.com/company/nationaltoday) and use #WorldBackupDay. Share insights on data security best practices for businesses.
X/Twitter
Mention @NatlToday and use #WorldBackupDay. Post quick tips, infographics, or poll your followers on their backup habits.
Mention National Today (facebook.com/nationaltoday) and use #WorldBackupDay. Share personal stories of data loss and recovery, or host a live Q&A.
World Backup Day Hero
Chris Pirillo
History of World Backup Day
The observation originally started as World Backup Month, and later changed to World Backup Day. Maxtor, a company specializing in hard drives, initiated this annual celebration. Now taking place every year on March 31, World Backup Day reminds us to make multiple copies of our digital treasures, or risk losing them all forever. The day also serves to instill better online and technological practices. Considering how reliant humans are on technology now, we still haven’t cultivated habits that will ensure that our information and personal data are secure and safe.
It happens to all of us — that one precious photo or video that was captured to immortalize a moment, but it doesn’t exist anymore. Broken hard drives, hacked computers, erratic phones, or any other glitch that erased irretrievable items, we’ve all experienced it.
World Backup Day falls on the day before April Fools Day, which is perfect timing. Pranksters and hackers are prone to play jokes on unsuspecting individuals, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The holiday was observed for the first time in 2011 and over time, has become that one day when we won’t say “we’ll back it up tomorrow.”
World Backup Day timeline
IBM engineer Reynold B. Johnson comes up with the idea of the external hard drive — the IBM 350 Disk File.
Computer Scientist Dr. Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider is believed to have invented cloud storage.
A year before the release of “Toy Story 2,” somebody enters a command on the drives where Pixar stores the film’s files, deleting 90% of the film.
After discussing backups on Reddit, student Ismail Jadun jokingly creates World Backup Day, eventually legitimizing it.
World Backup Day Media Coverage
By The Numbers
60% — the percentage of incomplete backups.
50% — the percentage of restores that fail.
50% — the percentage of people who will never know that their computer systems have been attacked.
20% — the percentage of all small businesses that are likely to be hacked within one year.
20% — the percentage of medium-sized businesses that lose critical data once every five years.
World Backup Day FAQs
When is World Backup Day?
In 2027, World Backup Day will be observed on Wednesday, March 31. It’s a perfect mid-week opportunity to ensure all your important files are securely backed up.
How much data is lost each year?
Globally, a significant volume of data, potentially billions of files, is compromised or lost each year. For individuals and businesses alike, this underscores the financial and emotional costs of not having a robust backup plan.
Why is data backup so important?
The importance of data backup cannot be overstated, as it provides a safety net for all your digital assets. From cherished family photos to critical business documents, backups offer peace of mind and business continuity in the face of disaster.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
Adhering to the 3-2-1 backup rule means maintaining at least three copies of your data—the original and two backups. These should be on two distinct storage types (e.g., internal drive and external drive), with one copy stored physically apart from the others.
World Backup Day Activities
Copy your files to an external hard drive
Set aside 15 minutes to an hour to back up all of the existing files on your desktop, laptop or pc. Simply purchase a hard drive of your liking - we recommend 1TB drives or more - and copy your files to the drive.
Play in the clouds
Can't buy a hard drive in time? No worries! There are plenty of companies that specialize in storing your documents online. Do your research and figure out which service works best for you. We recommend the Google Cloud, WMware Storage or Barracuda Cloud Storage, but they are all great!
Back that thing up party
Invite all the employees on your team to back up their files with one of the methods above. This will create a safer culture among your staff and prevent any projects from slipping through the crack. The last thing you need is a client asking for a file that was wrongfully discarded.
5 Reasons Why You Should Backup Immediately
One little mistake
One small mistake can lead to a disastrous loss of data.
Computer viruses are very common
New types of viruses can penetrate even the best anti-virus protection firewalls.
It’s always good to have a copy
Multiple copies of really important files will put your mind at ease.
Sudden system shutdowns
That thesis you are writing, yeah, back it up!
Hardware failure
In the event that your device fails for good, your personal files will be safe and secure on the cloud storage or alternate device.
Why We Love World Backup Day
Being prepared is half the battle
Wake up and smell the coffee. Crashes happen more often than not. Are you prepared to lose that project you have been working on all semester? What about those important documents you stored to help you get ready for tax season? Are they easily replaceable? We advise you to make copies if you haven't done so yet.
Peace of mind
As mentioned above, if your files are irreplaceable then we highly encourage you to back up your documents. Keep in mind that it is better to be safe, than be sorry. Duplicate your files on to as many storage devices as you like to make sure that you are clear from accidents that may occur.
An archive to dig through
Just like opening an old, untouched photo album, it can often be a trip down nostalgia lane to dig into old folders on long-forgotten hard drives.
Social Media Tips for World Backup Day
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