Creating a Restore:
To start, you will need to sign in to the Backblaze website with your registered email address and password. Visit https://secure.backblaze.com/user_signin.htm (external link) to login.
Selecting the Backup:
Once logged in, you will be brought to the account Overview page. On this page, all of the computers registered for backup under your account are shown with some basic information about each. Select which backup from which you wish to restore data by using the appropriate “Restore” button.
Selecting the Type of Restore:
Backblaze offers three different ways in which you can receive your restore data: downloadable zip file, USB flash drive, or USB hard drive. The downloadable zip restore option will create a zip file of the files you request that is made available for download for 7 days. Zip restores do not have any additional cost and are a great option for individual files or small sets of data. Depending on the speed of your internet connection to the Backblaze data center, downloadable restores may not always be the best option for restoring very large amounts of data. Zip restores are limited to 500 GB per request and a maximum of 5 active requests can be submitted under a single account at any given time.
USB flash and hard drive restores are built with the data you request and then shipped to an address of your choosing via FedEx Overnight or FedEx Priority International. USB flash restores cost $99 and can contain up to 128 GB (110,000 MB of data) and USB hard drive restores cost $189 and can contain up to 4 TB max (3,500,000 MB of data). Both include the cost of shipping.
Selecting Files for Restore:
Using the left hand file viewer, navigate to the location of the files you wish to restore. You can use the disclosure triangles to see subfolders. Clicking on a folder name will display the folder’s files in the right hand file viewer. If you are attempting to restore files that have been deleted or are otherwise missing or files from a failed or disconnected secondary or external hard drive, you may need to change the timeframe parameters.
Put checkmarks next to disks, files or folders you’d like to recover. Once you have selected the files and folders you wish to restore, select the “Continue with Restore” button above or below the file viewer. Backblaze will then build the restore via the option you select (zip or usb drive). You’ll receive an automated email notifying you when the zip restore has been built and is ready for download or when the usb restore drive ships.
If you are using the downloadable zip option, and the restore is over 2 GB, we highly recommend using the Backblaze Downloader for better speed and reliability. We have a guide on using the Backblaze Downloader for Mac OS X here (external link), or for Windows here (external link).
