As a parent in the digital age, it’s critical to back up your kids’ digital life before it’s too late. With so much of their lives stored digitally, losing that data can be devastating. Here’s what you need to know about backing up your kids’ digital information.
Why You Need to Backup Your Kids’ Data
Kids today have vast amounts of personal data stored digitally. From school work to photos to videos and more, it’s all on devices and in the cloud. If that data is lost, it can have major consequences.
Irreplaceable Memories
Your kids’ devices likely contain irreplaceable photos, videos, audio files, and other media that capture precious memories. If that device is lost, damaged, or fails, those memories could be gone forever if you don’t have a backup.
Hard Work Down the Drain
Kids spend hours working on school assignments, creative projects, videos, and more. If that work is not backed up, it could disappear in an instant if something happens to the device it’s stored on. All that hard work down the drain can be devastating.
Identity Theft Risk
Devices may contain kids’ personal information that could be used for identity theft if the device is lost or stolen. Backing up that information minimizes this risk.
How to Backup Your Kids’ Digital Life
Backing up your kids’ digital life is easy if you use the right methods. Here are some simple ways to backup their important data:
Use Cloud Storage
Cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, and OneDrive make it simple to automatically backup photos, videos, documents, and other files. Enable automatic syncing on your kid’s devices to ensure their files are always backed up in the cloud.
Plug In External Drives
External hard drives and USB flash drives provide physical backups you can store safely offsite. Simply plug one into your child’s computer and copy important files over periodically. This gives you an offline backup not reliant on internet connectivity.
Enable Phone Backup
Most smartphones backup photos, contacts, texts, and other data to the cloud, but only if you have backup enabled. Go into your kid’s phone settings and ensure automatic backup to Apple iCloud or Google Drive is turned on.
Backup School Work
Setup your child’s school-issued laptop or tablet to periodically backup to cloud drives as well. Most schools provide free cloud storage to students – take advantage of it.
Print Physical Copies
While not strictly digital, printing physical copies of your kid’s best school work and photos can also safeguard that data against device failure. Store printed copies in a safe place.
When to Backup Your Kids’ Data
Backup your kids’ data on a regular schedule to catch any new or changed files. But also remember to backup right before major events when losing data could be especially disastrous.
Back to School Time
Backup all devices before sending your kid off to a new school year. Capture all their previous school work and summer photos so nothing is lost.
Before Major Trips
Complete a full backup of your kid’s devices before extended trips or family vacations. You’ll want access to their latest photos and videos during the trip if a device fails.
Before Device Upgrades
Backup everything to external drives before upgrading or replacing your kid’s smartphone, computer, or tablet. Then you can transfer the data to the new device.
Every Few Weeks
Set a reminder to perform cloud and external backups of your kid’s devices every few weeks. This prevents losing too much new data if disaster strikes.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late!
Your kids’ digital lives are too precious to lose. Follow these backup tips to make sure you capture it all before it’s too late. With robust backups in place, your kids can safely store a lifetime of memories and hard work digitally.
