Resolve a Paused Backup

This article shows you how to resolve Backblaze pausing but still showing 'Initial Backup' even though you have zero files remaining.

This indicates that there are some files that Backblaze cannot currently back up, and your initial backup cannot be completed. If Backblaze is unable to back up a file, it temporarily skips that file and retries later.

These are the most common issues that can prevent Backblaze from uploading a file:

• The permissions on the file do not allow Backblaze to read the file for the backup.
• The file is open in another program/application. 
• This file is on an external drive that is not plugged in.

You can learn more about these issues here.

Another common issue that can interfere with an initial backup is antivirus or other security software that you installed on your computer. These programs can incorrectly identify Backblaze's processes as harmful, which can interfere with your backup. If this is the case, add Backblaze to the exclusions or whitelist for your antivirus or security software.

Guides for adding exclusions to some of the more popular antivirus and security programs, as well as how to disable your antivirus or security programs, can be found here.