Files & backups
Simple habits for organising, naming, and backing up your files and photos, so nothing important gets lost, misplaced, or falls into the wrong hands. They make life easier now, and far easier for whoever looks after your affairs later.
The idea in one sentence
If you can't find a file in under a minute, no one else will find it at all. And if it only exists in one place, one accident can take it for good.
Five things you can do today
- 1Turn on automatic cloud backup for your phone photos See how →
- 2Plug in an external drive, turn on Time Machine or File History, and decide where the drive will be kept away from your computer See how →
- 3Set up a few simple folders (we suggest some below) and move this month's downloads into them See how →
- 4Name the next file you save with the year first, such as "2025 Tax return" See how →
- 5Write a short "Start here" note saying where your files, backups, and important papers are See how →
Back up with the 3-2-1 rule
A file that exists in only one place can be lost in a moment: a dropped phone, a failed hard drive, a stolen laptop, or a mistaken delete. The 3-2-1 rule is the simplest reliable way to make sure that never costs you anything irreplaceable.
The rule
- →3 copies of anything that matters: the original and two backups
- →2 different kinds of storage, for example your computer and an external hard drive
- →1 copy kept away from your home, which usually means a cloud service, so a fire or burglary cannot take everything
A simple setup that works for most people
- →Phone: turn on iCloud Photos or Google Photos backup. These keep a copy off your phone, but deleting a photo on the phone deletes it there too, so every few months also copy your photos to a computer or external drive.
- →Mac: plug in an external drive and turn on Time Machine (System Settings → General → Time Machine). It then backs up automatically whenever the drive is connected.
- →Windows: search for "File History" in the Start menu and point it at an external drive.
- →Keep your main documents folder inside a cloud service (iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox) so there is always an off-site copy.
Syncing is not the same as backing up
Cloud storage keeps your devices in step. That is useful, but it also means that if you delete or overwrite a file on one device, the change copies everywhere. Most services keep deleted files for around 30 days, then they are gone. A backup on an external drive that is not always plugged in protects you against mistakes and against ransomware, which can encrypt everything a computer can reach.
- →Cloud storage is usually a paid subscription linked to your account and your bank card. If the payments stop after a death, the account can drop back to a small free allowance, and some services delete files above that limit after a while.
- →Your executor may not be able to get into your cloud account at all. Providers set their own rules, two-factor authentication can block access, and some have no legacy feature.
- →So keep at least one copy on a drive the person you trust can reach, set up the provider's legacy tool where there is one (see the Platform guides), and list the subscription in your account inventory.
A backup you have never tested is a hope, not a backup. Twice a year, try restoring one file from each backup. It takes five minutes and tells you whether the backup is actually working.
Don't keep the backup drive beside the computer
An external hard drive or USB stick is a good backup, but only if it is not in the same place as the thing it backs up. If the drive sits on the desk next to the laptop, one fire, flood, or burglary takes both, and you are left with nothing.
- →Keep the backup drive somewhere else: at the very least another room, and ideally another building, such as a relative's or friend's house or your workplace. Time Machine and File History only back up while the drive is plugged in, so bring it back and connect it at least once a month.
- →Or use two drives and swap them every month or so, keeping one away from home at all times.
- →Make sure the cloud copy is working too, so there is always one copy away from home even if both drives are lost.
- →Encrypt the backup drive. On a Mac, tick "Encrypt backup" when you set up Time Machine; on Windows Pro, use BitLocker. A small drive is easy to lose or have stolen, and an unencrypted one hands a stranger a copy of everything.
A backup drive kept in the same place as your computer does not protect you from the things most likely to destroy both: fire, flood, and theft.
Give everything one home
Most lost files are not lost at all. They are somewhere in Downloads, on the desktop, attached to an old email, or on a different device. One simple folder structure, used everywhere, fixes this.
A folder structure you can copy
Keep a small number of top-level folders, all inside one cloud-synced main folder. Numbers at the start keep them in a fixed order:
- →00 Start here (see below)
- →01 Home and money: bank, tax, insurance, pension, property, utilities
- →02 Personal and family: certificates, ID, school, family history
- →03 Health: prescriptions, test results, medical letters
- →04 Work: CVs, contracts, payslips
- →05 Photos and videos
- →06 Projects and hobbies
- →99 Archive: anything finished that you still want to keep
Rules that keep it tidy
- →No more than about seven top-level folders. If you need more, a folder is doing too many jobs.
- →No folders called "Misc", "Stuff", "New folder", or "Other". They become the new junk drawer.
- →Once a month, empty your Downloads folder and desktop into the right places, or delete what you do not need.
- →Save email attachments that matter into the folders. An inbox is not a filing system.
Name files so anyone can find them
A good file name tells you what a file is without opening it. It also means anyone who needs to can make sense of your files.
The pattern
Start with the year, then say what it is: "2025 Tax return" or "2026 House insurance". With the year at the start, your files line up in order by year automatically. If you have several of the same thing in a year, such as monthly bills, add the month as a number after the year: "2026-03 Electricity bill".
Other good habits
- →Use the same pattern every time. Consistency matters more than the exact format.
- →Don't use the full Irish date format (14/03/2026) in file names. Computers don't allow "/" in a file name, and dates written day first sort in the wrong order.
- →Keep names short and plain, ideally under 60 characters. Windows limits the full path (folders plus file name) to 260 characters by default.
- →Avoid these characters, which Windows does not allow in file names: \ / : * ? " < > |
- →For drafts, use v01, v02, v03 rather than "final", "final2", or "final FINAL".
- →Name photos from important events by folder rather than one by one, for example a folder called "2025 Aoife and Conor wedding".
Before and after
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Scan0042.pdf | 2025 Tax return.pdf |
| IMG_8821.jpg | 2025 Aoife and Conor wedding (folder) |
| insurance final FINAL.docx | 2026 House insurance policy.pdf |
| CV new.docx | 2026 CV v03.docx |
| bill march.pdf | 2026-03 Electricity bill.pdf |
| Document1.docx | 2026 Letter to credit union.docx |
Keep important documents safe, and findable
Birth and marriage certificates, property deeds, insurance policies, pensions, and tax records are the documents families most often need after a death, and the ones most often hard to find.
What to do
- →Scan important paper documents at 300 dpi or more (600 dpi for old photos) and save them in the right folder with a clear name.
- →Keep the paper originals together in one place, such as a fireproof box, and write down where it is.
- →Keep tax records for six years after the end of the tax year they relate to, which is what Revenue asks for.
- →Keep a list of policies and accounts (insurance, pension, bank, credit union, An Post) in your account inventory, with the provider and policy number but not passwords.
Your will is different
Your will is only valid as the original, signed and witnessed document. A scan is a useful copy, not a replacement. Keep the original somewhere safe, often with your solicitor, and make sure your executor knows where it is.
Keep sensitive files out of the wrong hands
Organising your files makes them easier for the people you trust to find. It can also make them easier for a thief or scammer to find. A few habits keep the balance right.
Protect the obvious targets
- →Turn on device encryption and a passcode on every phone and computer (see the Devices guide).
- →Turn on two-factor authentication on your cloud storage and email accounts.
- →Never keep passwords in an ordinary file such as "passwords.docx" or a note on your phone. Use a password manager.
- →For your most sensitive documents (passport scans, PPS number, bank details), use an encrypted folder: on a Mac, an encrypted disk image from Disk Utility; on Windows, an encrypted archive made with a free tool such as 7-Zip using AES-256. Keep the password in your password manager.
- →Do not send your PPS number, passport, or bank details by ordinary email unless you have to.
Check what you have shared
Shared links are easy to create and easy to forget. A link to a folder of family documents that anyone with the link can open is only as private as every inbox it has ever been sent to.
- →When sharing, share with named people rather than "anyone with the link", and set an expiry date where the service allows it.
- →Once a year, review what you have shared: in Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, and Dropbox, look for "Shared" or "Manage access", and stop sharing anything that no longer needs to be.
Before you give away, sell, or recycle a phone or computer, back it up and then erase it properly. The Devices guide has step-by-step instructions.
Leave a "Start here" note
Your organised files only help someone else if they know where to look. A short note at the top of your main folder is the map.
What to put in it
- →How your folders are organised, in a sentence or two
- →Where your backups are: which cloud service, and where the external drive is kept
- →Where your account inventory, Digital Wishes document, and paper originals are
- →Who to contact: your executor, and your solicitor
Never put passwords in the "Start here" note. It tells people where things are; your password manager, or a sealed record kept alongside your will, is how your executor gets in.
Keep it up with a quick routine
Organising is not a one-off job. A short, regular routine keeps things from sliding back into chaos, and deleting what you do not need leaves less to lose and less for anyone else to sort through.
Monthly (10 minutes)
- →Empty Downloads and the desktop into the right folders
- →Check your backups ran (most show the date of the last backup)
- →Delete screenshots, duplicate photos, and files you no longer need
Yearly (1 hour)
- →Test-restore one file from each backup
- →Copy a year of phone photos to your external drive
- →Review shared links and who has access to your folders
- →Update your "Start here" note and account inventory
- →Delete tax records older than six years if you no longer need them
Put a yearly reminder in your calendar, for example on your birthday or at New Year, and do this review at the same time as your digital estate plan review.