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Storage of Data After Deleting Files from Your Computer

  • This article is for Windows and Mac

When Carbonite is backing up, any files that are deleted from the computer by the user will be removed from the backup after 30 or 60 days depending on the Carbonite plan. Refer to the table below to determine how many days your Carbonite plan retains your deleted files.

Files removed through the Carbonite software (Windows or Mac) will be removed from the Carbonite backup within 72 hours.
Carbonite PlansRemoval from Carbonite After Deletion from Computer
Safe Basic30 days
Safe Plus30 days
Safe Prime30 days
Safe Core60 days
Safe Power60 days
Safe Ultimate60 days
If there is any concern that you are missing data from your computer, enter Recover Mode (Windows) immediately. Doing so will disable the backup and prevent unwanted file removal, giving you time to restore files to a new location (Windows).

Files or drives that are missing from the computer are also subject to the same backup removal rules based on their plan. Here is a list of common scenarios:

  • Transferring Carbonite to another computer: When you transfer Carbonite to another computer and start a backup, Carbonite will remove the previous computer backup after 30 or 60 days, based on plan.
  • Disconnected external drives: When an external drive is physically disconnected from the computer that is selecting it for backup by Carbonite, Carbonite will remove the drive from the backup if it is not reconnected within 30 or 60 days, based on plan. External drive support is not included with the Safe Basic plan.
  • Disconnected Network Attached Storage drives (NAS): When the network path for a NAS drive is changed or the Windows administrator that selected the drive for backup does not sign in, Carbonite will remove the drive from the backup within 60 days. NAS drive support is included only with Safe Backup Pro plans (Core, Power, and Ultimate).

To ensure the files you want to protect are backed up, do not delete files you wish to keep or disconnect your selected drive longer than 30 or 60 days without reconnecting it to the original computer.

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