Why are my drives not updating?

There are a few things that can cause a drive to not update. The most common instances and guidance on how to correct them can be found below.

1. Is the drive connected to the computer and selected in the client settings?

The first thing to check is if the drive is physically connected to your computer, and if it is checked under "Select Hard Drives to Backup" in the Backblaze software settings. If both apply, it should appear as shown below:

If the drive appears as unchecked, or is noted as "unplugged", make sure to either select it in the software settings, or ensure that it is physically connected to your computer via a cable.

2. Is this drive regularly updated?

If the drive is not one that you frequently save files on, or make changes to, and is mostly archival it can sometimes be seen as inactive, causing new backups to not be triggered. In this instance simply saving a file, such a small .txt can trigger that drive being backed up again.

3. Are additional drives selected for backup?

If you have multiple drives selected for backup, but not all are currently connected to the computer this can sometimes impact your other drives' ability to backup. If the program is trying to backup files located on a disconnected drive, this can prevent a drive that is connected from backing up. We recommend, if you are able to, that you have all drives selected for backup connected to your computer. 

4. Does the Backup Schedule allow for backup of the drive?

The settings of Backblaze software offer three different backup schedule options. 

- Continuously:  This is the recommended setting for consistent backup of your computer and drives

- Once Per Day: This setting can sometimes impact the backup of your drives if the computer is not powered on or awake at the time you have designated, or given enough time to make a full backup in the set time frame.

- Only When I Click: This setting requires the backup to be manually started by you. If this is not clicked it will not allow for backups to be performed.

For more information on Backup Schedule settings please see our articles for Mac here and Windows here.

5. Is Full Disk Access allowed? 

If you are using a Mac computer, MacOS 10.14 and newer require additional permission to be allowed in order for Backups to occur. If Full Disk Access has not been enabled for your external drives, and Backblaze in general, this can prevent an external drive from backing up. Please see the following guides on how to ensure that Full Disk Access is enabled:

- Installing the Backup Client on MacOS 10.14 and later

- Allowing Backblaze to Backup External Drives - MacOS 10.14 and later

6. Is the drive a Time Machine drive?

If the Drive appears in the software settings as a Time Machine Drive it will not be able to be backed up as long as it is designated as Time Machine, as Time Machine drives are excluded from backups by default.

If this is a drive that you do *not* want to be used for Time Machine, and want it to be able to back up to us, please reference this guide here on How to turn off Time Machine and back up to Backblaze. You can also split the drive into two partitions, one for Time Machine, the other for storage. For that method, please see our guide How to partition a Time Machine drive. 

If all the above options have been checked and tried, and you still are having issues backing up your drive, please contact support via our help page.