Published 16 June 2026 · Home Users · by the 365 Techies team — Microsoft Partners & Dell specialists, looking after Dorset since 1995
The golden rule is the 3-2-1 approach, in plain English: keep more than one copy, in more than one place, with at least one away from home. Sounds technical — but it is just a few taps to set up.
Set it and forget it
Turn on automatic backup on your phone — Google Photos or OneDrive on Android — so new photos are copied to the cloud the moment you take them. On your computer, save your photos into OneDrive (or copy them across), so they are protected too. iPhone owners can do the same with Apple’s iCloud; the principle is identical.
Keep a second copy — and check it
Cloud is brilliant, but keep one more copy on an external drive as a belt-and-braces backup. Then — and this is the bit people skip — actually open the backup and check your photos are really there. A backup you have never checked is not a backup. Worried about how safe yours are? Try our what would you lose? check.
Key points
- Decide where to keep copies (the 3-2-1 rule, simply)
- Turn on automatic phone backup with Google Photos or OneDrive
- Save or copy your computer photos into OneDrive
- Keep a second copy on an external drive
- Open the backup and check the photos are really there
- Free up phone space safely once photos are backed up
- Set a reminder to check your backups every few months
Prefer to let us handle it? Our monthly IT support plans include this and much more, from £18.25/month per computer — with a friendly techie on hand whenever you need one. Call 01202 775566 or view our plans.