Resolve a Missing Drive Issue

With Backblaze Computer Backup, drives are required to be connected a minimum of once every 30 days to be maintained in your backup. If a drive has been disconnected for some time or cannot be detected, you may see a Fix This message on the Overview page in the Backblaze web console or receive a Missing drive email (or pop-up message) in the Backblaze Client.

Determine Which Drive is Missing

There are two options to list the hard drives that are backing up. They are listed with their latest file upload date.

Use the Backblaze Web UI to View Hard Drives

1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Computer Backup, click Overview.
3. In the Selected Drives section, ensure that your drive is listed.

Use the Backblaze Client to View Hard Drives

1. Open the Backblaze Client Preferences (Mac)/Control Panel (Windows).
2. Click Settings, and select the Settings tab.
3. In the Select Hard Drives for Backup section, ensure that your drive is listed.
4. If your drive is not selected for backup, select it and click OK.

Back Up and Verify the Hard Drive

1. Update the Backblaze Client.
2. Simultaneously connect all of the hard drives to your computer that you selected for backup.
3. Open the Backblaze Client for your specific operating system.
   • Preferences (Mac).
   • Control Panel (Windows).
4. Ensure that the Backblaze backup schedule is set to Continuously.
   • Set a Backup Schedule (Mac)
   • Set a Backup Schedule (Windows)
5. Create a single, small file on the drive(s) in question (for example, a simple text file).
6. Reboot your computer.
7. Force an immediate rescan using the Backup Now option.
   • Preferences (Mac).
   • Control Panel (Windows).
8. Run your computer for at least four hours with all of your drives connected simultaneously, uninterrupted by reboots, sleep mode, or shutting down.
9. Verify that your file was backed up, and whether the drive's last backup date was also updated.

Troubleshoot a Persistent Issue

1. Verify whether the drive has restrictive permissions settings or encryption.
2. Open the Backblaze Client for your specific operating system.
   • Preferences (Mac).
   • Control Panel (Windows).
3. Click Settings, and select the Settings tab.
4. Disable the drive in question, and click OK.
5. Re-select the drive, and click OK.
6. Close Settings.
7. Perform the steps in the Back Up and Verify the Hard Drive procedure above.

If you still cannot resolve the issue after following these steps, contact the Support team.

If the drive is physically not able to connect due to being broken, corrupted, or lost, or if connecting your drives every 30 days is not feasible for you, Backblaze strongly recommends that you upgrade to one of the Extended Version History options.

Upgrading to One Year or Forever Version History allows you to remove the requirement to connect every 30 days by extending the retention window.