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File Types Carbonite Backs Up for Carbonite Safe Backup Pro (Mac 2x)

Summary:

Carbonite automatically backs up the files that are most important to you. By intelligently scanning your computer, Carbonite does not select unnecessary file types, which improves backup and restore speeds. However, less common user-created data can be manually added to your Carbonite backup.

For best results, we recommend that you take a moment to verify that the data most important to you is included in your backup.

Solution:

The sections below are collapsed. Please click the section title that corresponds with your version of Carbonite to open / close the appropriate section:

What does Carbonite Safe Backup Pro back up?

During installation, you can customize which folders you would like Carbonite to back up by default.

Carbonite Mac 2.x Client: Automatic Settings
  • Carbonite backs up user-created files such as:
    • Documents, spreadsheets, pictures (.jpg, .png, .gif, etc.)
    • Financial files stored in the Users folder
    • Music files (.mp3, .m4a, etc.)
    • Video files (.mpeg, .m4v. etc.)

You can manually select most files and folders to add to your backup at any time using .

Please do not select the /Applications/ folder for backup. This could cause issues with the backup processes and conflicts with your operating system when restored.

For more information about what's not included, go to the what's not included section below.

What’s Not Included?

Files and Folders that are Not Automatically Selected

The following files can be manually included in your backup by selecting Back This Up within the My Files section of Carbonite.

  • Files and folders in hidden directories such as the Library folder. Examples are:
    • Mac Mail
    • Third party web browser bookmarks. Safari, Chrome, and Firefox are included by default.
  • Files and folders outside of the /Volumes/Users location. Examples are:
  • Individual files that are 1 TB or greater

You can manually select most files and folders to add to your backup.

Please do not select the /Applications/ folder for backup. This could cause issues with the backup processes and conflicts with your operating system when restored.
Technical Details

What Can't Be Included?

Files and Folders that Cannot Be Selected

  • System and Program files - Some of these items can cause system conflicts.
  • Cache files and operating system files
  • Hidden system folders - These normally govern how the operating system runs; users don't typically store their important files here.
  • Files located on networked disk drives and NAS devices (Carbonite can only back up data that is physically located on your computer).

If you wish to see a list of what specific folders are excluded from backup, please click one of the collapsible section header below.

Folders Excluded from Backup

The following folders are excluded from your online backup:

/**/*.app
/**/.DS_Store
/.fseventsd/*
/.hotfiles.btree
/.Spotlight*/*
/.Trashes/*
/.vol/*
/Applications/*
/automount/*
/bin/*
/cores/*
/Desktop DB
/Desktop DF
/dev/*
/etc/*
/home/*
/Library/*
/mach.sym
/mach_kernel*
/mach
/net/*
/Network/*
/opt/*
/private/*
/sbin/*
/sw/*
/System/*
/tmp/*
/User Guides And Information/*

/Users/**/Burn Folder*/*
/Users/**/Parallels/*
/Users/**/Virtual Machines*/*
/Users/*/.config/Carbonite/*
/Users/*/.Trash/*
/Users/*/Applications (Parallels)/*
/Users/*/Applications/*

/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Adobe/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Backup/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Bitdefender Virus Scanner/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Carbonite/Sync & Share/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/com.apple.QuickLook/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/comMobileSync/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Console/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/iDVD/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/iLifePageLAyout/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/PreferenceSync/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Preview/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Skype/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/Local/*
/Users/*/Library/Application Support/Ubiquity/*

/Users/*/Library/Autosave Information/*
/Users/*/Library/Autosave Information/Adobe/*

/Users/*/Library/Caches/*
/Users/*/Library/Calendars/Calendar Cache/*
/Users/*/Library/Colors/*
/Users/*/Library/Compositions/*
/Users/*/Library/Cookies/*
/Users/*/Library/Font Collections/*
/Users/*/Library/Fonts Disabled/*
/Users/*/Library/Fonts Discontinued/*
/Users/*/Library/Fonts/*
/Users/*/Library/Google/*
/Users/*/Library/Logs/*
/Users/*/Library/Mail/V2/*.IMAP

/Users/*/Library/Preferences/ByHost/*
/Users/*/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Japanese.analysis/*

/Users/*/Library/PubSub/*
/Users/*/Library/Saved Application State/*
/Users/*/Library/WebKit/*
/Users/*/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom*Catalog Previews.lrdata/*

/usr/*
/var/*

/Volumes/*
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/*
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Developer/*

/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/Creative Cloud/*
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/CarbointeInfo/*
/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Library/*

File Types Excluded from Backup

The following file types are also excluded by default from your backups and may not be manually selected for backup:

.$$$;

.$db;

.113;

.a;

.abf;

.abk;

.afm;

.ani;

.ann;

.app;

.bac;

.bak;

.bck;

.bcm;

.bdb;

.bdf;

.bkf;

.bkp;

.bmk;

.bsc;

.cf1;

.chm;

.chq;

.chw;

.cnt;

.com;

.cpl;

.cur;

.dev;

.dfont;

.dll;

.dmg;

.dmp;

.drv;

.dvd;

.eot;

.evt;

.exe;

.ffa;

.ffl;

.ffo;

.ffx;

.fnt;

.fon;

.ftg;

.fts;

.fxp;

.gid;

.grp;

.hdd;

.hlp;

.hxi;

.hxq;

.hxr;

.hxs;

.ico;

.idb;

.ilk;

.inf;

.ins;

.ipa;

.ipf;

.ipsw;

.iso;

.isp;

.its;

.jar;

.jse;

.kbd;

.kext;

.lex;

.lib;

.library-ms;

.lnk;

.lockfile;

.log;

.lwfn;

.mem;

.msc;

.msi;

.msm;

.msp;

.mst;

.ncb;

.nt;

.nvram;

.o;

.obj;

.obs;

.ocx;

.old;

.ost;

.otf;

.pch;

.pf;

.pfa;

.pfb;

.pfm;

.pkg;

.pnf;

.pol;

.pref;

.prf;

.prg;

.prn;

.pvm;

.pvs;

.pwl;

.rdb;

.reg;

.rll;

.rox;

.sbr;

.scf;

.scr;

.sdb;

.shb;

.sqlite-journal;

.suit;

.swf;

.swp;

.sys;

.theme;

.tmp;

.tms;

.ttc;

.ttf;

.v2i;

.vbe;

.vdi;

.vga;

.vgd;

.vhd;

.vmc;

.vmdk;

.vmem;

.vmsd;

.vmsn;

.vmx;

.vmxf;

.vxd;

.win;

.wpk;
If your file extension contains a special character (e.g. _, *, #, etc.), you may not be able to select the file for backup with Carbonite.
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