How to restore your backup from Koofr with Duplicati

You've successfully created a backup with Duplicati and stored it safely in your Koofr account — but what happens when you actually need it? Whether your computer has crashed, you've lost important files, or you're migrating to a new device, knowing how to restore your backup is just as crucial as creating one.

The good news is that restoring with Duplicati is straightforward once you understand the steps. In this guide, we'll walk you through the entire process.

Read more on how to create a backup with Duplicati on Windows or on macOS.

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Why Backup Restoration Matters

Many people focus entirely on creating backups and forget about the other half of the equation: actually being able to use them when disaster strikes. A backup that can't be restored is just expensive storage.

The risks you're protected against:

• Hard drive failure — your computer stops working unexpectedly
• Accidental deletion — you've permanently deleted important files
• Ransomware attacks — your files are encrypted and held hostage
• Device theft or loss — your laptop disappears, but your data is safe in the cloud
• System corruption — your operating system becomes unstable, and data is inaccessible

With Duplicati and Koofr, you can recover from any of these scenarios. Your backup is sitting safely in Koofr cloud storage, and you can restore individual files or your entire system whenever needed.

Read more in our blog post How Can You Protect Yourself Against Ransomware Attacks?

Before You Start: What You'll Need

To restore your backup, you'll need:

1. Duplicati installed on your computer.
2. Access to your Koofr account.
3. A backup saved in your Koofr account, and your backup's encryption passphrase, if you encrypted it.
4. Enough space for the files you're restoring.
5. An internet connection.

Duplicati: Restore your files in 6 steps

Once Duplicati is installed and running:

1) Open Duplicati on your computer.

2) Look for your existing backup in the list of backups, under "Where do you want to restore from?".

3) Select the backup you want to restore and click the Restore button.

4) Select the files you want to restore and click on Continue.

5) Select the location to which you wish to restore your files. You can restore to your original location (if the drive still works), a new folder (safer, lets you verify the files first), an external drive, or another cloud storage service. Select your option and click Submit.

Best practice: Restore to a new folder first so you can verify everything is intact before moving files to their final location.

Note: In the same step, you can decide to overwrite existing files or save different versions with a timestamp in the file name.

What to do if your backup is not on the list of locations from where you can restore your files? Read in our blog post: How to restore your backup from Koofr with Duplicati: Part 2

6) Your backup restore is now in progress. You just need to wait for Duplicati to do its thing. You can check on the progress at the top of the screen in the Duplicati browser tab. Depending on the size of your backup, restoration can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.

During restoration, Duplicati:

1. Downloads encrypted backup files from your Koofr account
2. Decrypts them using your passphrase
3. Verifies file integrity
4. Writes files to your chosen destination

Note: Keep your computer running and connected to the internet until restoration completes.

Verify Your Restored Files

Once restoration finishes, it's important to verify everything worked correctly:

1. Check the destination folder — navigate to where files were restored
2. Spot-check important files — open a few documents, photos, or spreadsheets to ensure they're intact
3. Verify file sizes and dates — make sure everything matches what you expect
4. Check for completeness — if you restored everything, ensure all your folders are there

Duplicati will show a completion message indicating success or any errors that occurred during restoration.

Best Practices for Reliable Restores

To ensure your backups remain reliable, it’s important to follow a few simple best practices.

• Regularly test your backups by restoring a small file or folder every few months to confirm everything works correctly and your data is intact.
• If you use encryption, keep your passphrase stored securely in a trusted password manager.

Note: Encrypted backups cannot be recovered without the passphrase; the passphrase should never be shared, written on unsecured notes, or stored alongside the backup files themselves.

• Check Duplicati periodically to make sure backups are completing successfully and that no errors appear in the backup logs.
• Keep multiple backup versions, as it allows you to restore files from earlier points in time in case of ransomware, accidental overwrites, or gradual data corruption.
• Follow the widely recommended 3-2-1 backup strategy: keep three copies of important data, store them on at least two different types of storage, and maintain one copy offsite. Using Koofr as an off-site backup location is an effective way to protect your data against both hardware failure and local disasters.

Koofr's Role in Your Backup Strategy
Using Duplicati with Koofr provides a secure and privacy-focused backup solution, where your files are encrypted before upload, protected with additional server-side encryption in Koofr’s EU-based infrastructure, and kept free from profiling or advertising practices. Read about Koofr's privacy-first approach and how encryption protects your data.

What If You Need Help?

If you encounter issues when restoring your backup:

1. Check the Duplicati logs — Duplicati records detailed information about every backup and restore operation
2. Visit Duplicati's website that has comprehensive guides
3. Contact Koofr support — if the issue is related to your Koofr storage connection
4. Join Koofr's Reddit community and ask for help

Conclusion: Your Safety Net is Ready

The peace of mind from having a reliable backup is about the technology and knowing you can recover when things go wrong. By following these steps, you've ensured that your backup isn't just sitting in storage, but is actually usable when you need it most.

Regular backups + secure storage + tested restores = a digital life you can trust.

Don't have a backup yet? Set it up with Duplicati. Read our guide and backup your files in 3 easy steps.

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Editor's Note: This post was first published in 2020. We've updated and enhanced the content to improve clarity and detail. Whether you're revisiting or reading it for the first time, we hope this improved version offers an even better experience.

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