Backups are great, but only if you know how to restore your files! Lets dive into how to restore a file from a Duplicati backup because of accidental deletion or modification.
Duplicati Backup Restore
Whether you are restoring from a cloud backup or local USB/network share restoring backups using Duplicati is quite simple.
In this example we’re assuming your PC isn’t damaged or otherwise, and that you’ve accidentally deleted or changed a file that you can’t get back from your recycle bin (you tried that first right?).
If you are restoring from USB or local storage, make sure you have your device plugged in and accessible before starting the restore process. If you are restoring from cloud, you’ll need to have internet access to make this happen.
Let’s get started
Launch Duplicati and find the backup job that contains the files you wish to restore.
Click the down arrow beside the name of the job. In this example it’s “My Backup”.
Click Restore Files
Select the backup you wish to restore the files from. If you have many backup snapshots your list may be quite large. Choose the most current backup that has the file in it that you need. Select that file by searching the contents of the backup and click Continue.
Choose your restore options. For most file restorations from accidental deletion the original location is a good choice. However, if you already have a file with that name in that location from a situation where you’ve changed a file and need to revert your change you can choose to restore the file elsewhere so you can merge your changes. This is suitable for a situation where you’ve modified a Word document a few days ago and realized now you need to go back and undo your modifications. Do you wish to overwrite the existing file or save the restored file with a different name? Most often overwrite is a suitable suggestion for a file that’s been deleted, but for a file that’s been modified and saved you may want to save it with a different timestamp. Restoring read/write permissions is often desired, so go ahead and click that box.
Run the restore job and it should exit with success! If you’ve turned on email notifications for your backup jobs, you’ll also see an email come in to your inbox indicating success or failure.
Fantastic, you’re now able to restore a file from your Duplicati backup!
Check out more of our How-To’s for additional great tips like this one.