As long as your aim is to backup data, like photos, videos, and documents, Duplicati will do it. However, it will not backup and restore the operating system. Other tools are designed for this job

When a destination locations has been chosen (hard drive, flash memory, NAS, Cloud drive) Duplicati will test the connection before starting.

I was pleasantly surprised that a Backup to my pCloud worked; even though it was an unlisted location.

This is the original review - the review that inspired checking into this program...

https://www.xda-developers.com/duplicati-free-open-source-backup-tool

It outlines the installation and operation of Duplicati well. For this reason, only a few additional comments need be made.

1. Upon first install, you will see this message... "Duplicati needs to be secured with a passphrase and a random passphrase has been generated for you. If you open Duplicati from the tray icon, you do not need a passphrase, but if you plan to open it from another location you need to set a passphrase you know. Do you want to set a passphrase now?" Even if you do not set a pass phrase, further opportunities to do so will be presented, and will be essential if operating outside your local network.

2. During transport all data is encrypted with built in AES-256 or external GNU Privacy Guard (your choice), protected with automatically generated (visible to only you) 15 to 18 character complex pass codes. However, on a local network you can choose NoEncryption and No Passphrase.
One menu option allows instant pausing and setting the transfer speeds, both up and down speeds. It is called, "throttling", meant to not tie up bandwidth on a multi-user connection.

3. Curiously, or perhaps, ominously, Duplicati is able to read all accounts stored by your browser (including saved passwords), so that it can access the stuff you want to back up (without you needing to look up this data). Another surprise - Duplicati, in desktop Trayicon mode, runs in a browser tab! [I did not try the Server, Agent or command line interfaces.]
The online manual is helpful in understanding all of the above.

4. Duplicati will first ask for the backup destination, then a connection test, then the backup source folder, followed by a choice of backup times, then a list of further backup options.
Save those choices, and heed the warning to maintain a copy of the auto-generated (or self-generated) passphrase.
[I had to go back to that screen and copy it.]
Also, when selecting the source folder, certain files within it can be excluded, like hidden files, system files, temporary files, or files larger than a size you select.

5. Once a backup setting has been saved, it will run automatically, later, if a RUN schedule has been set. Or, you can RUN Now.

[One reviewer claims that restoration is a lot slower than the original backup operation.]

Below is what the backup files looked like on pCloud. They did not contain any readable information, possibly due to the way Duplicati employs encryption. However the restore operation worked flawlessly, to either a new location or the same location (with an option to overwrite or rename).

System requirements:

Platform: Tested on Windows 10 64-bit [Installs in Program Files.]

Version: duplicati-2.1.0.5_stable_2025-03-04-win-x64-gui.msi

Download Size: 85 KB

Installed Size: 194 KB

Licence: FREEware, and paid versions

Rating:

Download Site here.