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Restoring Files and Folders

Restore files and folders to their original place or to another folder, and choose what happens to existing files.

Applies to: NovaBACKUP 22 PC Agent and Server Agent.

This article shows how to restore files and folders from a backup, either to where they came from or to a different folder, and explains the restore options. To restore a whole computer, see Backing Up a Computer for Full System Recovery instead.

Prerequisites

  • At least one completed backup
  • The device that holds the backup is connected and reachable

Tip: If you need only one or two files back, mounting the backup can be quicker, because it shows the backup as a folder in File Explorer. See Mounting a Backup to Browse and Copy Files.

Step 1: Choose the backup to restore from

  1. Click Restore in the menu on the left.
  2. Click the backup set button at the top of the page. It shows the job and date of the selected backup set. Before you choose one, it reads Select backup set and is highlighted in yellow.
  3. In the Select the backup job to recover from dialog, choose the job under Backup Job.
  4. Days with backups are marked in the calendar. Select a day, then select the backup set in the list on the right. The Source Device column shows which device holds it.

    Select the backup job to recover from dialog with a calendar and a list of backup sets

  5. Click OK.

Step 2: Select the files and folders

  1. Browse the backup in the tree on the left, the same way you would in File Explorer.
  2. Select the check box of each folder or file to restore. Selected Items at the bottom of the page shows how many items you selected.

    Restore page with the Contracts folder selected

Step 3: Choose where to restore and what to overwrite

  1. Click Job options to open the restore Settings.
  2. On the General tab:
    • Leave Restore to alternate location off to put the files back where they were.
    • Turn it on and enter a folder, for example C:\Restored, to restore a copy next to the current files. To browse for the folder instead, click the folder icon.
  3. Choose the Overwrite mode:
    OptionWhen a file with the same name already exists
    Always overwrite existing filesIt is replaced with the backup copy.
    Overwrite existing files if they are olderIt is replaced only if it is older than the backup copy.
    Do not overwrite existing filesIt is left alone, and the backup copy is skipped.

    Restore settings with an alternate location and the Overwrite mode list

  4. Optionally, use Run as to restore as a specific Windows account, for example to write to a network share, and Filters to skip files by name.
  5. Click OK.

Important: When you restore to the original location, Always overwrite existing files replaces the current version of each file with the backup copy. If you are not sure which version you need, restore to an alternate location first and compare.

Step 4: Start the restore

  1. Click Start Restore.
  2. Follow the progress on the Activity page. When the restore finishes, it is also listed in Job History as Interactive restore.

Global restore settings

Large restores can run several restore engines at once. These settings apply to every restore on the computer and are under Settings > Restore Settings:

SettingWhat it does
Max Concurrent EnginesThe maximum number of engine processes that can run at the same time during one restore. The default is 4.
Min Files [threshold] For ConcurrencyA restore of fewer files than this runs in one engine. A larger restore is split into groups of this many files, which run in parallel engines. The default is 40,000.

Settings page on the Restore Settings tab

The defaults suit most computers. Lower Max Concurrent Engines if a large restore makes a computer with little memory slow to respond. Click Save after you make a change.

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