The best backup software for Windows

1. Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows FREE — Backup Software

Best for: A free full-system image to a USB drive or NAS

• Freeware
• Free
• Utilities

Veeam Agent FREE is built on the same technology as Veeam's business backup products. It backs up the entire computer, single volumes or chosen folders to an external drive, an SMB network share or a Veeam repository, and backs up BitLocker volumes while they are unlocked. The recovery media wizard creates a bootable USB stick, disc or ISO for bare-metal restores, and single files can be restored from any backup.

The free edition allows only one backup job, with no direct backup to object storage or Veeam Cloud Connect. The download needs a free Veeam account, it runs only on 64-bit Windows, and exFAT drives are not supported as backup targets. For several jobs on one PC, AOMEI Backupper is more flexible.

2. AOMEI Backupper Standard — Backup Software

Best for: Scheduled system and file backups with many targets

• Freeware
• Free
• Utilities

AOMEI Backupper Standard backs up Windows, whole disks, partitions or individual files on a schedule with incremental backups. Targets include internal and external drives, USB sticks, network shares, NAS, cloud drive folders and discs. It also syncs folders on a schedule and creates bootable recovery media.

The free edition is for home use only and clones only data disks: moving the system disk to a new SSD, differential backups, encryption, real-time and two-way sync, cleanup schemes and Universal Restore need the paid Professional or Workstation edition. For a free system disk clone, Rescuezilla can do it from a USB stick.

3. EaseUS Todo Backup Free — Backup Software

Best for: Encrypted images to a NAS or FTP server

• Freeware
• Free
• Utilities

EaseUS Todo Backup Free backs up files, the Windows system, or whole disks and partitions with full, differential and incremental modes, on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule. Backups can be password-protected and saved to local or external drives, NAS, network shares or FTP servers. The free edition includes a 30-day trial of 250 GB of EaseUS cloud storage.

Disk and system cloning, transferring Windows to a different PC and Universal Restore are only in the paid Home edition, and the app regularly prompts you to upgrade. Compared with AOMEI Backupper, it adds free differential backups and encryption.

4. Rescuezilla — Disk Imaging Tool

Best for: Imaging or cloning a PC that no longer boots

• Open source
• Free
• Utilities

Rescuezilla is not a Windows program but a small live system: you write its ISO to a USB stick, restart the PC from it, and then save a disk image to an external drive, restore one or clone a disk to another, for example when moving to an SSD. Because it runs from memory, it works even when Windows does not start, and it includes a web browser and file recovery tools.

It is fully compatible with Clonezilla images and reads VirtualBox, VMware and QEMU images. It cannot schedule backups from inside Windows and backs up whole disks or partitions rather than folders. You need a separate USB stick and an external drive, and at least 1 GB of RAM.

5. Duplicati — Backup Software

Best for: Encrypted file backups to your own cloud account

• Open source
• Free
• Utilities

Duplicati backs up folders on a schedule to almost any destination: local and external drives, network shares, FTP and SFTP servers, Amazon S3, Azure, Google Cloud, Backblaze B2, Dropbox, OneDrive, box.com and others. Data is encrypted with AES-256 on your PC before upload, only changed blocks are sent after the first run, and retention rules decide how many versions to keep.

It backs up files, not a full system image. The interface runs in your web browser from a small local server, and upgrades require uninstalling the old version first. The backup client is open source under the MIT License and free.

6. Kopia — Backup Software

Best for: Fast, deduplicated snapshots for technical users

• Open source
• Free
• Utilities

Kopia saves snapshots of chosen folders into an encrypted repository on a local or network drive, an SFTP or WebDAV server, or cloud storage such as S3, Azure, Backblaze B2 and Google Cloud Storage. Encryption is always on, only changed parts of files are uploaded, and identical or moved files are stored once, so frequent backups stay small. A snapshot can be mounted as a drive to copy single files out.

Like Duplicati, it backs up files rather than a bootable system image. Some advanced features are only in the command line, Google Drive and OneDrive work only through Rclone, which the project calls experimental, and a lost repository password means lost backups.

7. Macrium Reflect Home — Backup Software

Best for: Fast imaging and restores, if you accept a subscription

• Free trial
• $49.99, per year, 1 PC
• Utilities

Macrium Reflect Home creates disk images and file backups on a schedule, resumes interrupted backups, restores only changed blocks with Rapid Delta Restore, and blocks other programs from changing its backup files with Image Guardian. Macrium publishes its backup formats as open source and supports ARM-based Windows PCs.

The old free edition is gone; Macrium's own FAQ says the only free version is the 30-day trial, started from a Macrium account without a card. Reflect Home costs $49.99 a year for one PC, and when a subscription ends the app falls back to restore-only mode, so existing backups stay restorable.

8. Acronis True Image — Backup Software

Best for: Backup, cloning and cloud storage from one vendor

• Free trial
• $49.99, per year, 1 computer (Essentials)
• Utilities

Acronis True Image backs up whole disks, partitions or files with incremental and differential backups, clones the running Windows disk to a new drive, restores to different hardware and builds the Acronis Survival Kit, one external drive that holds both the backup and the recovery tools. Anti-ransomware protection is in every plan.

There is no free edition, only a 30-day trial. The Essentials plan costs from $49.99 a year for one computer; cloud backup, Microsoft 365 backup and real-time anti-malware are reserved for the pricier Advanced and Premium plans. The installer is about 780 MB.