Backblaze Review | Mac’s World

When looking at the best cloud storage services for Mac, there’s an important distinction to make.

Offerings like OneDrive, Google Drive, and even Apple’s own iCloud Drive offer a cloud storage area that can also be used to share files between users, usually with a link to a specific location.

Others, such as Backblaze, are a storage service in the strictest sense – they take your data, transfer it offsite and keep it under lock and key. It’s not for quickly sharing a document or collaborating on a task, but for recovering data you might lose if something happens to your local computer. While you can share a Backblaze file, this requires the use of the separate Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage service, which does offer flexible pay-as-you-go options.

It’s worth making this distinction because services like iDrive blur the lines a bit, but Backblaze exists in a place where it’s a tool you hope you never have to use but will be extremely happy to have in your corner .

Backblaze bills itself as a “back-up system for peace of mind,” and it’s hard to disagree. You pay a fee, download the app, and it runs in the background.

At $99 per year, it’s quite affordable and there is no storage limit – you can continue to backup and the copies will duplicate, and there is no limit to the size of individual files. It’s worth noting that it’s $99 per computer, so you’ll double that for two machines, but if you’re only using one machine, it’s worth looking into.

You can set your own 2FA options and encryption keys to ensure your data stays safe too, and the app is so lightweight and undemanding that I haven’t noticed any slowdown as it backs up my entire drive.

While I can’t share files as easily as I can with a cloud storage solution like Google Drive, my files are safer than ever.

First impressions

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The magic of Backblaze is that it doesn’t actually want you to have to open the app itself. Once installed, you can set options like backup schedules and a quick, clear view of how many files you’ve transferred (broken down by file type, which is nice), but for the most part I appreciate that it just works things out.

A menu bar item lets you quickly pause or get updates on a current backup, and the app provides three months of version history by default. At the time of writing, you can extend this period to 12 months at no additional cost, which is welcome.

Backblaze Features

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Backblaze essentially comes in two applications that are installed at the same time. The first part is the backup application, which will continuously upload files to the cloud server as part of its processes.

While you can set a schedule for these backups, Backblaze recommends the “Constantly” option, which ensures that if a meteor hits your Mac, everything you’re currently working on will be saved somewhere.

The second application is for restore, and I’m impressed by the detail with which you can delve into the file system. The app offers a backup in the form of a list of nested folders, so you can get to what you need or restore everything.

You can restore apps to the same place they were before, or dump regenerated versions anywhere you want using custom file paths. I deleted the test file from deep within my Mac’s library, then used the Restore app to drill down and restore it to the desktop, and it worked fine.

Transfers are relatively fast for backups too, keeping up with similar options, and the option to transfer data to your hard drive if all else fails can be a lifesaver.

Retroactive irritations

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Less annoying considering Backblaze isn’t necessarily intended for this purpose, but there’s no Finder window integration, so you’ll be relying on the aforementioned duo of apps.

This makes sense because you can’t transfer data and documents between users as quickly as you can with a simpler cloud storage application like we mentioned earlier.

Is Backblaze worth buying?

Backblaze is a comprehensive cloud backup solution for anyone dealing with sensitive data that needs to be kept safe. Although it works on different principles than Google Drive, it may be everything you need.

For more tips on backing up your Mac, read our top recommendations for Mac backup software.