Location: Backup dashboard > Options > Advanced > Backup protection

This topic is applicable to local and network backups. For information about protecting cloud backups, refer to Online backup protection.

By default, there is no password protection for backups, but you can configure passwords to protect your backup files.

You cannot change the backup protection option for an existing backup.

To protect a backup:

Enter the password for the backup into the corresponding field. We recommend that you use a password longer than seven symbols and containing both letters (in upper and lower cases preferably) and numbers to make it more difficult to guess.
A password cannot be retrieved. Please memorize the password that you specify for a backup protection.
To confirm the previously entered password, retype it into the corresponding field.
[optional step] To increase the security of your confidential data, you can encrypt the backup with strong industry-standard AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) cryptographic algorithm. AES is available with three key lengths – 128, 192 and 256 bits to balance performance and protection as desired.
The 128-bit encryption key is sufficient for most applications. The longer the key, the more secure your data. However, the 192 and 256-bit long keys significantly slow down the backup process.

If you want to use AES encryption, choose one of the following keys:
- AES 128 - to use 128-bit encryption key
- AES 192 - to use 192-bit encryption key
- AES 256 - to use 256-bit encryption key
If you do not want to encrypt the backup and only want to protect a backup with a password, select None.
Having specified the backup settings, click OK.

How to get access to a password-protected backup

Acronis True Image asks for the password every time you try to modify the backup:

To access the backup, you must specify the correct password. For safety reasons, there is no way to recover lost passwords.