Regularly backing up your Drake Tax data is essential to safeguard against data loss due to unforeseen circumstances. Drake Tax provides built-in tools to facilitate both automatic and manual backups.

Automatic Full Backups

To schedule daily automatic backups:​

• Open Drake Tax and navigate to the Home window.​
• Go to Tools > File Maintenance > Backup to open the "Backup and Restore" dialog.
• In the Automatic Backup-Full section, check the Enable box.​

Follow the on-screen instructions to configure the backup schedule.

Note: It's recommended to schedule automatic backups at least once a week to ensure data integrity.

Manual One-Time Backups

For immediate backups:​

• From the Home window, select Tools > File Maintenance > Backup.​
• In the Manual One-Time Backup section, choose your backup destination:
• For local or network storage, check Backup to a local or network location and click Browse to select the folder.​

For off-site storage via SecureFilePro, check Backup to SecureFilePro (requires an active SecureFilePro account).

• To back up all Drake Tax files, select Perform Full Backup.​
• If you wish to include Drake Documents (Archive Cabinet) files, check Include DDM (Archive Cabinet).​
• Click Backup to initiate the process. A message will confirm completion.​

Selective Backups:

• To back up specific files or data:​
• Access the "Backup and Restore" dialog as described above.​
• Choose Selective Backup and click Backup.​
• In the "Create Selective Backup" dialog:
• Select Customize Backup to enable file selection.​
• Use the buttons (All Drake Files, Tax Returns, Setup Files, System Files) to filter and select specific files.​
• Optionally, add non-Drake files by clicking Custom Items.​
• Provide a description in the Backup Description field.​
• To include Drake Documents, check Include Full DDM Archive Cabinet.​
• Click Backup to start the process.​