Everyone agrees backups matter, and most people do not have one that works. The reason is usually not knowledge but effort: a backup that depends on remembering to do it will be forgotten.

The classic rule is three, two, one: three copies of anything important, on two different kinds of storage, with one of them somewhere else. In practice that means the files on your computer, a copy on an external drive at home, and a copy in a cloud service or at another address.

The secret is to make every copy automatic. Most computers can back up to an external drive on a schedule without any help, and most cloud services keep a folder in step by themselves.

Then, once a season, check that you can actually restore a file. A backup you have never tested is only a hope.