Check that you can recover and open a small, varied sample without replacing your working originals. A “backup complete” message is useful, but usable recovered files are stronger evidence.
This guide helps you choose and record the check. Use the recovery instructions for your actual backup method when retrieving the sample.
Choose pictures that reveal different problems
Pick an old photograph, a recent photograph, an edited favourite and a short video if you keep videos. Include an unusual file type you would be upset to lose.
Write down where each belongs. The recent item helps show whether new imports are being included; an old one checks a different part of the collection.
If names, captions or albums matter, put those on the list too. Image files alone may not recreate the organisation you see inside a photo app.
Keep the check separate from the originals
An ordinary copied folder can be opened on its backup drive. A backup made by software may need that software’s recovery screen instead.
Use a separate recovery destination where the method allows it. Do not delete your originals to test the backup, or accept a replacement message you do not understand.
Check the location carefully. It is easy to open a familiar original on the computer and mistake that for a recovered copy.
Inspect more than the small preview
Open each recovered photo at a useful size. Look for the expected picture, orientation and detail. A tiny thumbnail can conceal an incomplete or wrong file.
Play the recovered video and move towards the end. If you need Live Photo movement, check that rather than counting only its still image.
Read an important caption or associated note. Some exports put extra information in separate files; keep those with the pictures until you understand their purpose.
File counts and sizes can reveal obvious gaps, but equal counts do not prove all files are intact. Opening a sample answers a different question.
Write a result someone else could understand
Record the backup drive or service, backup date, recovered items and where you put them. Add the date of this check.
For example: “9 September: recovered three holiday pictures and a video from the portable drive’s 8 September backup. Pictures opened; video played. Captions not checked.” This is a fictional example of a useful note.
Keep missing items or uncertain results on the page. “Three files checked” is accurate; “the entire collection is safe” goes beyond that evidence.
Fix a gap while you still have the original
If a photo is absent, check whether its folder is included and whether the backup happened after that photo arrived. Online-only pictures may need downloading first.
Correct the cause, make a new backup and repeat the small check. Avoid removing working originals to free space until you understand what the other copies actually contain.
Repeat the check after a major import, new backup drive or change of photo library. Set a reminder you can reasonably maintain.
Next step
If your backup uses Windows File History, practise recovering a small folder.
Sources and date checked
Researched checking guidance, 9 September 2026. This article does not report a performed recovery test.
Library of Congress: checking stored photographs. Microsoft: File History recovery.