College homework is so time-consuming and exhausting. As the semester draws to a close, you undoubtedly find yourself bombarded with papers, assignments, and finals study sessions. Most students juggle their studies with a part-time job or even a career and family, so the last thing any of them need is to lose their most important files right before the semester’s end. Here are some quick and easy tips for backing up your documents for finals, saving your term papers, and ensuring your group projects don’t get lost in translation.

Use External Storage
Don’t trust that you won’t spill coffee all over your laptop and fry your hard drive the day before finals. It’s happened before. Saving multiple copies of your college papers and assignments on your computer is an exercise in futility since they’re only accessible on that particular device.
Although there are plenty of great computer services companies that can recover hard drive info, making the switch to portable USB drives will save you time and money. These are cheap, small enough to fit in your pocket, and can be plugged into any computer with a USB drive, allowing you to finish your paper in the school library 10 minutes before its due without a problem.

Email
Email yourself copies of your most important files like term paper outlines and upcoming assignments. You can create a folder in your inbox called “School” and keep all your backups there in case of an emergency. It’s also super convenient to have them right in your inbox so you can send a copy of your notes over to a friend or turn in a paper online with no hassle.

Got a Group Project? Use Google Docs
Whether it’s Docs, Sheets, or Slides, Google’s incredible programs are 100 percent online and free to anyone with a gmail account (which is also free to register for). In addition to 5GB of storage on Google Drive, you’ll be able to collaborate on all your group projects through one of the many Google apps right from your browser. As long as you make the project public or accessible via a link, your groupmates will be able to work on their part of the assignment and have it all updated in real time, so no more last-minute meetups.

Stay Up-to-Date
Although backing up all your files can be a pain, it’s an incredibly useful practice to adopt that will spare you plenty of heartache and tough work down the line. At the end of every semester, save your greatest achievements and trash the rest so your inbox, Google Drive, and trusty USB are always current and organized. Be sure you also use a service like Bask or program to purge viruses and malware from your laptop regularly.

About our Guest Blogger
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.

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Email:  General Information   |   Prof. David C. Pecoraro

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Daniel & David

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College Tech Tips for Backing up your Finals, Papers, and Group Projects