Ultimate Backup only searches the folders and file types you have told it to search. By default it searches your Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, Videos (Movies on a Mac), Documents and Music folders, plus the Photos library on a Mac, and it backs up photos, videos, documents and music. If some of your files were skipped, they are most likely in a folder that is not ticked, a kind of file that is switched off, or a less common format that has to be added. The sections below show how to check each one.
Check the file-type buttons
On the Home screen, under Start Backup, there are four buttons: Photos, Videos, Docs and Music. They all start switched on, and each one shows a check mark while it is on. Click a button to switch it on or off. If a whole kind of file was skipped, make sure its button is on.
Open Settings
- Plug your Ultimate Backup drive into the computer and open the Ultimate Backup app.
- Click Settings in the left-hand menu.
One dialog opens. It is the same on Windows and Mac, and it has three areas: Where to Search at the top, Search Summary at the bottom left, and What to Search at the bottom right.
Where to Search
The sidebar on the left lists the places Ultimate Backup can look:
- HOME - your user folder
- LIBRARY - your Photos Library
- DEVICES - your internal disk and any external drives
- ONLINE SERVICES
Click one and the main list shows the folders inside it, such as Pictures, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies and Music. Each folder has a tick box.
- Click HOME and check that the folder holding the missing files is ticked. If it is not, tick it.
- To reach a subfolder, click the > arrow next to a folder. Its subfolders appear with their own tick boxes, so you can tick or untick them one at a time.
- If your files are on an external drive or a network drive, click DEVICES. A drive appears there once it is connected to the computer, and you can tick its folders in the same way.
- Look at the Search Summary at the bottom left. It lists every location that will be searched. Click the x next to a location to remove it.
What to Search
The tick boxes at the bottom right decide which kinds of file Ultimate Backup collects from the folders above.
- If the missing files are in a less common format, tick More File Types. It adds formats such as PNG (including screenshots), TIF, GIF, RAW, 3GP, RTF and CSV to the kinds of file that are switched on.
- If the missing files are a type that neither the buttons nor More File Types cover, for example Photoshop (.PSD) files, tick Custom Search and type the file ending in the box beside it. While Custom Search is on, the app looks only for the endings you type, so untick it again once that backup has finished. See the notes below for why.
- Leave Exclude Pictures Under 50 KB ticked unless you are missing very small photos.
Save and run the backup again
- Click Save Settings. Your choices are kept for every future backup, so you only need to do this once.
- Go back to Home and click Start Backup.
If you want to undo your changes later, click Reset Search Options (Default Settings) at the bottom of the dialog.
What the options mean
More File Types. Adds less common formats to each kind of file that is switched on, including PNG (screenshots are PNG files), TIF, GIF, BMP and RAW photos; 3GP, MKV and WebM videos; RTF, TXT, CSV and HTML documents; and WAV, FLAC and WMA music. Some of these are much larger than a JPG, so your drive fills up faster when they are included.
Custom Search. Lets you back up a file type that the buttons and More File Types don't cover, by typing its ending in the field, for example .PSD for Photoshop files. While Custom Search is on, Ultimate Backup looks only for the endings you typed and ignores the Photos, Videos, Docs and Music buttons. It also turns off backups of the Photos library on a Mac, Google Photos and Facebook, so untick it once that backup has finished.
Exclude Pictures Under 50 KB. On by default. Clipart, album covers and website logos are usually smaller than 50 KB, so skipping them keeps junk off your drive. If you have small cropped or edited photos that are being missed, untick this box.
Virus Protection. An option that scans files for viruses during the backup.
Allow Duplicates and Clone your Ultimate Backup. Leave these unticked unless our support team asks you to turn them on. Clone ignores your previous backup history.
If you have any trouble getting all your files backed up, contact us and we will be happy to help.