What Is Incremental Cloud Backup | Best Incremental Backup Software

This post introduces what incremental cloud backup is and professional incremental backup software. Follow it and set up incremental backups for your files easily.

By @Jonna Last Updated October 10, 2024

What Is Incremental Cloud Backup?

An incremental cloud backup refers to backing up data that has changed since the last backup to clouds. The last backup here can be a full backup or an incremental backup. But a full backup is required before an incremental backup can be performed.

Specifically, the objects of your first incremental backup are the newly-added and changed files that appear after the full backup. The objects of the second incremental backup are the newly-added and changed files that appear after the first incremental backup, and so on.

Full backups, differential backups, and incremental backups mentioned above are three types of backups for data. Next, let's take a look at the differences between them.

Incremental Backup vs. Differential Backup vs. Full Backup

As mentioned earlier, an incremental backup is designed to back up data that has changed since the previous backup. Thus, it only saves these added or changed data to the existing data volume. It requires a short time for file backup and little space to store backed-up data.

A differential backup, like incremental backups, only backups the data that has changed. However, differential backups are cumulative. That is, as long as a data volume has been updated since the last full backup, it will be backed up every time you do a differential backup. It takes longer for backups and has greater space requirements than incremental backups.

A full backup means a complete backup of all data. Regardless of whether the data has been changed or not. Therefore, it takes the longest time for backups and needs a large amount of storage space.

You can learn more detailed information on incremental backup vs. differential backup vs. full backup, and the advantages and disadvantages of the three in the chart below.

Recommended: Best Incremental Cloud Backup Software - CBackup

After knowing what incremental backup is and how it differs from the other two backup methods, are you curious about how to get files incremental backup to clouds? Actually, you can take advantage of professional cloud backup software such as CBackup to achieve that easily.

CBackup is a full-featured yet easy-to-use cloud backup tool that supports you to backup files to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, as well as its CBackup Cloud for free. This software applies the incremental backup method for data backups, making each backup version unique. Once your data is backed up, it is easy and free for you to restore files from clouds when your files get lost or corrupted.

In addition, CBackup can help you do incremental backups of your files with other popular cloud storage services that do not support incremental backups of files. As you know, mainstream cloud storage providers such as Google Drive and OneDrive, are not supporting incremental backup of files. With this backup service, you can perform Google Drive and OneDrive incremental backups without a hitch.

Some powerful features of CBackup:

β—†Automatic backup - CBackup is a scheduled backup utility that allows you to back up your data on a once, daily, weekly, monthly schedule.

β—†File Filter - You can exclude a certain type of file that you don't want to backup from a folder easily when backing up data.

β—†Data restore - You can restore backups from clouds to a new location or the original site without any payment.

β—†Cloud to cloud file transfer - It supports moving files between cloud storage services by virtue of its cloud file backup and sync features.

How to Use CBackup for Incremental Backup for Files

Now, you may have such a question: how can I make files incremental backup to my cloud? How to make use of incremental backup to protect your PC files from loss or corruption using CBackup? You can use the best cloud backup and restore solution - CBackup to create an incremental backup of your files on Windows PC effortlessly. It is available on Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP.

You can free download the CBackup desktop client and register an account for CBackup to make preparations.

Download CBackup Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
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Note: When you use CBackup to backup files, the first backup performed is a full backup. When you create a new backup based on the first backup, it will back up files incrementally. You can choose to backup data manually or use the Scheduler feature of the CBackup scheduled backup software to save data incrementally to cloud daily, weekly, or monthly.

Part 1. Set up Incremental Backup of Files to CBackup Cloud

CBackup Cloud comes with 5GB of free cloud storage and you can also choose to upgrade to huge cloud storage at a very low price.

Step 1. Install the CBackup application on your laptop, and sign in to it.

Step 2. Click on the Backup position, tap Backup PC to CBackup Cloud.

Step 3. Select the files you need to backup. Then, opt for CBackup Cloud, and click on Start Backup.

To set up a backup schedule for files, you could click Settings and enable Scheduler to choose an appropriate backup mode according to your needs.

Part 2. Backup Files to Public Clouds Incrementally

With CBackup, you can back up computer files incrementally to public cloud drives with a few clicks as well. For example, you can perform Google Drive incremental backup and dropbox incremental backup easily. Here we take Google Drive as an example. The following is a step-by-step tutorial.

Step 1. Launch and sign in to the CBackup client likewise.

Step 2. Head to Storage and choose the cloud you want to save files, hit Authorize Now, and grant CBackup to access your cloud storage.

Step 3. Similarly, create a new backup task by hitting Backup > Backup PC to Public Cloud.

Step 4. Locate the source directory in the Source tab. Then, select the added destination cloud. Press Start Backup to begin the task.

β˜…Tips: In addition to incremental file backup, CBackup also offers other powerful features:
You can use it to sync files to Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox on one interface.
It allows you to back up/sync files from one cloud to another without downloading and uploading, such as migrating OneDrive to Dropbox.
When your cloud storage is used up, you can use it to combine cloud storage and increase storage space at no cost.

Written in the End

On this page, we elaborate the definition of incremental cloud backup, introduce the difference between the three main backup types, and present free incremental backup software with how-to guides. If you are looking for a good incremental backup tool, you can have a try at CBackup. It won't let you down.