Help · Backup Copy
Backup Copy mirrors your photo library to another drive, with the same folders. Each file is copied, read back from the backup and compared with the original before it counts. This page explains the two choices on screen, what a run does, and what it never does.
Your library is only read. Backup Copy writes to the backup drive and nowhere else: a mirror of your folders, and a list of the files it verified. Nothing in the library is moved, renamed or changed.
On the backup, nothing is ever deleted. A file that changed has its older copy sent to the Trash (Recycle Bin on Windows), not overwritten, and extra files already on the backup are kept. Undo removes exactly the copies a run made.
Backup Copy sits under Protect, next to Archive Health. The screen opens with one line — Your photos exist in one place. Make a verified copy. — and two choices.
Library · Choose…Free
The folder to protect. It starts on the folder your photos were last organized into.
Backup drive or folder · Choose…Free
Where the copy goes: another drive, with the same folders as the library. FolioSort refuses a backup placed inside the library, or a library inside the backup, and says why. Before it starts it checks the free space and tells you how much it needs.
Start backup copyPro · first 100 files free
Each file is copied under a temporary name, read back from the backup drive, and its checksum compared with the original's. Only then does it take its real name. A copy that does not match is made once more; if it still differs it is not kept, and the result says the copy is not identical and the drive may be failing.
The result counts what was copied and verified and what was already on the backup. Show the list of verified files opens the list written on the backup drive.
Running it again
A later run copies only what is new or changed: a file with the same size and date as its copy is skipped. A file that changed is copied again, and its older copy goes to the Trash (Recycle Bin on Windows).
Stop · Undo
Stopping keeps what was done: Stopped. Run it again to finish — what was already copied stays. If the drive fills up: The backup drive is full. Free some space and run it again — only what's missing will be copied. Undo removes exactly the copies that run made, and does not touch the library.
Make a backup copy…
After an Organize run, FolioSort asks These photos now exist in one place. Keep a verified copy on a backup drive? Make a backup copy… opens this screen with that folder already chosen.
Update backup · Not now
On the Mac. When the backup drive is plugged in and there are new photos, FolioSort asks Your backup drive is connected: bring it up to date (N new photos)? — and sends a notification, if you allow them.
Update Backup Copy — a Workflows stepElite
A step you can add to a workflow: copy the new photos and verify every file. If the backup drive is not there, the step is skipped and the run says so.
Which plan
Free copies and verifies the first 100 files. Pro covers the whole library. Elite adds the Workflows step and the monthly check in Archive Health. See the plans.
FAQ
Each file is copied under a temporary name, read back from the backup drive, and its checksum compared with the original's. Only a copy that matches takes its real name. A copy that does not match is made once more; if it still differs it is not kept, and FolioSort tells you the copy is not identical and that the drive may be failing.
No. Backup Copy never deletes from the backup. Files that are on the backup and no longer in the library are kept. When a file changed, its older copy on the backup goes to the Trash (Recycle Bin on Windows) rather than being overwritten.
The run stops with The backup drive is not connected. Nothing is written to your computer's own disk in its place.
Free copies and verifies the first 100 files. Pro covers the whole library. Elite adds a Workflows step that updates the backup, and the monthly Archive Health check. See the pricing page for the plans.