Western Digital recently announced the results of a global research study by Researchscape, where 87% of respondents cite that they backup their data automatically or manually. The top reasons for backing up personal data are fear of losing important files (83%), free up space on their device (67%) and protect against cyber threats (42%). 19% do it because they were told to.
“It’s fantastic to see more people recognizing the importance of protecting their data,” said Nitin Kachhwaha, Director, Product Management, Western Digital. “World Backup Day (31 March) is an important yearly reminder to everyone to backup their data and to educate the people who still are not aware of the impact of failing to backup,” he continued.
Backup
For those respondents who do not backup their personal data, 36% still think they don’t need to backup their data, 30% don’t have enough storage space, 29% think it takes too much time, and 23% don’t know how. 63% of respondents agree that they would backup data more frequently if it were automatic and effortless.
With free cloud storage limits quickly maxing out, many consumers are turning to a hybrid approach to protect their data. In the survey, 78% of respondents reported that they rely on free cloud storage, 60% have run out of space in the past six months, and 56% have had to upgrade to paid plans.
The results in this report are from an online survey of 6,118 respondents that was fielded from February 7 to 25, 2025 by Researchscape, an international market research consultancy. The respondents were from ten different countries.
