Acronis True Image is backup, recovery and security software for Windows and macOS. It can preserve a complete computer for restoration, keep copies of selected files and move an existing system to another drive. Its security tools monitor the working computer alongside those backups, with cloud storage and broader antivirus protection available in the higher subscription plans.
Disk and file backups in Acronis True Image
A backup in Acronis True Image starts with a choice of what to preserve and where to store it. A disk image includes the operating system, applications, user data and information needed to start the computer. A file backup instead stores the selected files and their folder structure. Local destinations include internal drives, external drives and network shares; cloud-enabled plans can also send backups to Acronis Cloud.
On Windows, ordinary disk imaging copies sectors containing data rather than every sector on the device. A sector-by-sector option also includes unused space.
Separate plans can use different destinations and schedules. Their settings include full, incremental or differential backups, exclusions for unwanted files or folders, and cleanup rules based on backup age or the number of copies retained. Password-based encryption controls access to the saved data.
System recovery
The same backup can serve different recovery jobs. Acronis True Image can restore a complete drive or retrieve individual files, with file recovery directed to the original location or another folder. Local and cloud copies are both recovery sources.
Bootable recovery media provides access to the restore tools when the installed operating system cannot start. Acronis Survival Kit combines that recovery environment and backups on an external drive. For Windows systems moving to different hardware, Universal Restore helps make the restored system bootable when components such as the motherboard or processor have changed.
Threat protection
Acronis Active Protection watches patterns of data modification for signs of ransomware. It looks at process behavior, allowing it to identify suspicious activity beyond matching a file against a known malware signature. On Windows, monitoring also covers unauthorized changes to the Master Boot Record and unwanted cryptomining activity.
Advanced and Premium add ongoing antivirus protection, including real-time checks and quick or full scans that can run on demand or on a schedule. Web filtering on Windows blocks access to malicious URLs.
Disk migration
Cloning transfers a disk directly to replacement storage. Acronis True Image supports HDD, SSD and NVMe drives and can clone a system while it remains in use. The transferred contents include installed software, settings and personal files, making this operation useful when replacing a drive rather than restoring a saved backup archive.
Cloud copies
Advanced and Premium can automatically replicate local backups to Acronis Cloud, adding a remote copy to the local recovery source. Files and folders in cloud backups can then be retrieved from other computers or mobile devices. Cloud backups support AES-256 encryption with a password chosen by the user.
The cloud plans also provide Microsoft 365 backup for an Outlook.com mailbox and OneDrive. This preserves email with attachments and files stored in the connected account separately from a desktop disk image. The Acronis Mobile companion app handles supported phone data, including contacts, photos and videos, on Android and iOS.
Essentials, Advanced and Premium
Essentials provides local backup, cloning, recovery and ransomware protection. Advanced adds cloud backup, local-to-cloud replication and ongoing antivirus features. Premium adds Acronis Notary for file authenticity certification and Acronis ASign for collecting electronic signatures from multiple parties and recording them using blockchain technology.
All three are paid annual subscriptions. Identity Protection is available to Advanced and Premium subscribers in the United States, with monitoring and identity-resolution services separate from computer backup and malware scanning.
