Most business owners know they should have backups. Far fewer have actually checked that theirs work. It’s an easy thing to overlook, because a backup that’s failing quietly in the background looks exactly the same as one that’s working, right up until the day you actually need it.
Here’s how to check yours properly, without needing any technical background.
Why this matters
A backup is only useful if it can actually be restored. There are plenty of cases where a business believed they were backed up, only to discover during an emergency that the backup had stopped running months earlier, or only covered part of what they needed. Checking now, while everything is calm, is far better than finding out during a crisis.
Step 1: Find out what’s actually being backed up
Start by making a simple list of what your business would genuinely struggle to lose:
- Your website
- Customer records and contact details
- Financial and accounting data
- Emails
- Shared documents and files
For each one, find out where it lives and whether it’s being backed up at all. It’s common for one or two of these to be covered while others are quietly missed.
Step 2: Check when the backup last ran
Most backup systems, whether it’s your website host, your accounting software, or a cloud storage service, show a date and time for the last successful backup somewhere in their settings. Have a look and check it’s recent, not weeks or months old.
Step 3: Check where the backup is stored
A backup stored in the exact same place as the original isn’t much use if that location has a problem, for example a stolen laptop or a hacked account. Ideally your backups should be stored somewhere separate, such as a different cloud account or an external drive kept elsewhere.
Step 4: Actually test a restore
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it’s the most important one. A backup that has never been tested is really just a guess. Pick something low risk, like a single file or folder, and go through the process of restoring it from your backup. If that works smoothly, you can trust the rest of the system more.
Step 5: Set a reminder to check again
Backups can quietly stop working due to a change in settings, an expired subscription, or a software update. A simple reminder every few months to log in and check the last backup date can save you a lot of stress later.
A few common mistakes worth avoiding
- Assuming your website host automatically backs everything up (many only do this on paid plans, or keep backups for a very short time)
- Relying only on one laptop’s local storage, with nothing backed up elsewhere
- Never actually testing whether a restore works
The peace of mind is worth it
Checking your backups doesn’t take long, and it’s one of those tasks that feels unnecessary right up until the moment it isn’t. A short check now could save your business a very bad day later.
If you’re not sure whether your backups are set up properly, we are happy to take a look. Get in touch and we can help.
