How to back up a Family Tree Maker file properly
The automatic backup you've been relying on does not contain your photographs. Only the manual command offers to include media, and the box isn't ticked for you. If your backup never showed you checkboxes, your pictures aren't in it.
- Applies to
- FTM 2024 · 2019 · 2017 · 2014
- Platform
- Windows & Mac
- Time
- ~15 min
- Updated
This is the most expensive misunderstanding in Family Tree Maker.
People copy their automatic .ftmb backups to an external drive or a cloud folder,
reasonably conclude they're protected, and find out after a hard drive failure that the names and
dates came back and not one photograph did. The automatic backup was never carrying them.
The three backups, and what each one holds
Family Tree Maker produces backups in three different circumstances, and they are not equivalent. This is the table to read before anything else on this page.
| Backup | How it happens | Your data | Your photos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic backup | On its own, on a schedule | Yes | No |
| Backup offered when compacting | Prompted during Compact File | Yes | No |
| Manual backup | , with the media box ticked | Yes | Yes |
A quick way to tell which you've got: if the backup happened without showing you a window of checkboxes, it's one of the top two rows — data only.
Step 1 — Use the right command
The only complete one File → Backup
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Open your tree, then choose .
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A Backup the Tree window appears with several checkboxes. Those checkboxes are the whole point — they're what the automatic backup never gives you.
Step 2 — Tick the media box
Do not skip This is the one that saves your photographs
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Tick the checkbox to include media files.
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Every copied item in that tree's media folder is then packed inside the single backup file along with your data. One file, everything in it.
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That portability is the hidden benefit: a media-inclusive backup can go on a USB stick and be restored on a different computer with all your pictures intact. See why moving a tree normally breaks media links.
Step 3 — Tick the syncing box too
Nearly always missed Allow the restored file to resume syncing
If your tree is linked to Ancestry, there's a second checkbox that decides whether a restored backup carries on syncing, or arrives as an orphaned copy with no relationship to your online tree.
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Tick the option allowing a restored file to resume syncing.
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Leave it unticked and a restore still returns your data, but the sync link is gone. Reconnecting then means reconciling both sides by hand. That turns a ten-minute restore into an afternoon.
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There's usually a historical events option in the same window as well. Harmless either way; tick it if you use them.
Step 4 — Put it somewhere sensible
Placement matters Not next to the original
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Save the backup to a different drive from the tree: an external disk or USB stick.
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Keep one copy somewhere other than your home. A backup on the desk beside the computer survives file corruption but not fire, flood or theft.
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Cloud storage is ideal for backups, unlike the working tree file, which should stay on a local drive because cloud folders are a leading cause of file damage.
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Put the date in the filename and keep several. One backup that turns out to be damaged is not a backup strategy.
Step 5 — Check it actually worked
Thirty seconds Look at the file size
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Find the
.ftmbfile and look at its size. -
Compare it against your tree file plus your media folder. A media-inclusive backup of a photo-heavy tree should be large.
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If it's a few megabytes and your media folder is three gigabytes, the media isn't in there. Go back to step 2.
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Once a year, actually restore a backup to a test file and open it. An untested backup is a hope, not a plan.
Things people mistake for a backup
- Syncing to Ancestry. The publisher says this plainly in its own documentation: do not treat your online tree as a full backup of your file. Research, fact and citation notes, tasks, colour coding, saved charts and reports, web links, short place names and map coordinates all live only on your computer, so an online copy restores a tree with the research intact and the thinking around it gone. Sync copies changes both ways. A deletion or a bad merge travels to the online tree just as fast as a correction. A backup is a frozen point you can return to. Syncing isn't.
- TreeVault. It's a separate paid cloud service, not the same as a local backup, and the two get confused constantly. Check which tier you pay for, too: the entry-level plan copies your tree data and none of your media, so a restore from it returns every person and source with all the photographs missing. Higher tiers do carry media. Either way, keep your own copy of the media folder, which sits beside the tree file under the tree's name with the word Media added.
- A renamed or relocated tree file. Not a backup problem exactly, but it bites the same people. If you pay for the TreeVault cloud service, renaming or moving the tree from Windows or Finder breaks its link to the cloud copy, which then stops updating silently. Rename and move from inside the program.
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The tree file sitting in OneDrive or Dropbox. That is the working file in a risky place, not a backup. Cloud auto-backup of the
.ftmbstill will not contain media unless you made it correctly. - An automatic backup copied to an external drive. Copying a data-only backup somewhere safe leaves it data-only.
Discovered your backups have no photos in them?
If the originals are still somewhere on the machine we can usually reconnect them and build you a proper backup routine. If they aren't, we'll tell you honestly what's recoverable.
A backup routine that actually holds
- Manual backup with media before every big session, not after. A backup made after the damage isn't much use.
- Keep the last three, dated. Damage often isn't noticed the same day.
- One copy off-site, in cloud storage or on a drive kept elsewhere.
- Tick both boxes every time. They don't remember your last choice.
- Test-restore once a year into a separate file.
- Back up before compacting, merging or syncing — the three operations that rewrite the most.
Frequently asked questions
Do automatic backups include my photographs?
No. The automatic backup carries tree data only, not your media folder. It is the most costly misunderstanding in the program. People copy those files somewhere safe, believe they are protected, and find after a failure that every photograph is missing.
What is the difference between the two backups Family Tree Maker offers?
The automatic backup, and the one offered when you compact a file, protect your data. Only gives you the option to include media. If your backup didn't present checkboxes, it doesn't contain your photographs.
What does allow restored file to resume syncing do?
It preserves the link between your file and your Ancestry tree, so a restored backup carries on syncing instead of arriving unlinked. If you sync, leaving it unticked turns a simple restore into a manual reconciliation.
Is syncing to Ancestry the same as having a backup?
No, and treating it as one is expensive. Sync copies changes both ways, so a deletion or bad merge reaches the online tree as readily as a correction. A backup is a frozen point in time. Syncing is not.
How can I tell whether a backup actually worked?
File size. A media-inclusive backup should be roughly comparable to your tree file and media folder combined. A few kilobytes, or anything far smaller than your media folder, hasn't captured what you think.
Where should I keep my backups?
A different drive from the working file, with at least one copy away from home. A backup beside the original survives file damage but not fire or theft. Cloud storage suits backups well, unlike the working tree file, which belongs on a local drive.