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My backups for team members

You were invited to your company's Backup Engine account as a User. Here is how to get your computer protected, what you see in the portal, and how to get your files back.

Who this page is for

People invited with the User role: “their own computer(s) only — back up and restore their own files”. You do not need to know anything about plans, seats or other people's computers — none of that is shown to you. Administrators should read Team members, roles and seats.

Install and sign in

The invitation e-mail has a link to set your password. After that, install Backup Engine on your computer and sign in with the same address — signing in is what links the computer to you.

  • •Open the link in your invitation e-mail and set a password.
  • •Download Backup Engine from the download page and run the installer on your computer.
  • •Open Backup Engine and sign in on the Sign In screen with your invited e-mail address and password. Do not use Sign up — that would start a separate personal account.
  • •Register the computer when the app asks. It is registered to you, and your invitation counts as accepted the moment this succeeds.
  • •Set up encryption: choose a passphrase and keep it safe. Backups are encrypted on your computer before upload, and without the passphrase nobody — including your administrator — can recover the files.
  • •The computer then appears on My backups in the portal. If your company has a backup policy for your site, the folders it requires are already selected.

ℹ Note

If the app says new device sign-ins are paused because your company is over its seat limit, nothing is wrong on your side — ask your administrator to add seats or remove people, then try again. If it says the computer is registered to another person in your company, an administrator needs to transfer it to you first (Team → the person → Transfer devices…).

The My backups page

Signing in to the customer portal takes you straight to My backups. It lists only the computers assigned to you — one card each — with the computer's health, its last backup and when it was last seen.

  • •Backup sets — expand a card to see what is backed up and when. A set marked Policy is managed by your company's backup policy.
  • •Run backup now — starts an immediate backup of that set; your computer picks the request up within seconds when it is online.
  • •Edit — change what you are allowed to change (see the next section). Folders your company requires are shown with a lock and cannot be removed.
  • •Recent backups — your computers' most recent runs, with status and size. Nothing from anyone else's computer is ever listed here.
  • •My restores — the restores you have started, and any an administrator started for you.

No computer yet? The page says so and offers the download link; it fills in as soon as you sign in on a computer.

What your company policy controls

Your company can require certain folders (Documents, Desktop, a project share…) and can decide how much of the rest you may change. By default you may add your own folders; an administrator can lock any of these for your site:

  • •Add folders — when locked, the Edit form says "Your company policy does not allow adding folders."
  • •Change the schedule — when locked, the schedule is shown read-only: "The schedule is set by your company policy."
  • •Edit exclusions — when locked: "Exclusions are set by your company policy."
  • •Pause backups.

⚠ Warning

Required folders can never be removed from the policy-managed backup set, and that set cannot be deleted. If a required folder is in the wrong place on your computer, tell your administrator — the policy is theirs to change.

Restoring your files

  • •In the portal, open My backups and click Restore my files. The restore assistant shows only your computers as sources and targets.
  • •Pick the computer and the backup (date) to restore from, then the files or folders you want.
  • •Choose where the files go — a folder on the same computer or on another computer of yours — and confirm. The computer picks the job up on its next check-in and the restore appears under My restores.
  • •On the computer itself you can also use the Restore tab in the Backup Engine app for a direct, offline-friendly restore.

ℹ Note

Restores need the encryption passphrase of the computer whose backup you are restoring. If the backup is encrypted with your own passphrase, no administrator can read it — including when they start a restore for you; the files are decrypted on your computer once it is unlocked.

When an administrator restores on your behalf

Your company's administrators can start a restore of your computer's backup for you — for example to a replacement machine. When that happens you receive the e-mail “A restore was started on your behalf” naming who started it, which backup, how many files and where they go. The action is recorded in your company's audit log. If you did not expect it, contact your administrator.

What you do not see

  • •Other people's computers, backups or files — the server only ever sends you your own.
  • •Team, Sites, Billing, Reports and account settings — those belong to the owner and administrators.
  • •Your computer's backup sets on the Team page are visible to administrators, who can run, edit and restore them; you keep working as usual.

If you see “Your seat is suspended”

Your company has more people than seats, and after a 14-day grace period the most recently invited people lose their sign-in until a seat is freed. Your computer keeps backing up the whole time, and administrators can still restore your files. Your access comes back automatically as soon as your administrator adds a seat or removes someone — there is nothing you need to do.

A different message, “Your access is suspended”, means an administrator suspended your account on purpose; backups on your computer are paused until they reactivate you.

Team members, roles and seatsReports & Notifications