Local File System & NAS Backup Setup

The Local provider reads and writes files on your computer's file system. Use it to back up local files to cloud storage, or to copy cloud files down to your computer.

• ✅ Browse folders and files via the desktop file picker
• ✅ Create directories
• ✅ Upload/copy files
• ✅ Download/copy files
• ✅ Delete files and directories
• ✅ Move files
• ✅ Get file metadata (size, dates, permissions)

• The Blober desktop app installed
• Read/write permissions for the directories you want to access

Local paths are standard absolute paths on your operating system.

On Windows:

C:\Users\YourName\Documents
D:\Backups\photos

On macOS:

/Users/YourName/Documents
/Volumes/ExternalDrive/backups

On Linux:

/home/yourname/documents
/mnt/backup
/media/yourname/external-drive

The Local provider needs no credentials. It can reach whatever the user account running the Blober desktop app can reach.

• Default: Skip if a file with the same name exists
• Used for: Destination

This setting decides what happens when the exact computed destination path already exists. Local offers three policies:

• Skip if a file with the same name exists (the default) does not copy the new file.
• Overwrite the existing file replaces the file at the destination.
• Keep both (rename the new copy) saves the new file as name (1).ext, then name (2).ext, and so on.

Use Skip if a file with the same name exists when you re-run the same export into the same folder and don't want existing files downloaded again. Local checks the destination before opening the source and checks again when it claims the final filename, so two concurrent transfers cannot race to create the same path.

Deduplication covers the behavior shared by all providers, including how deduplication relates to resuming a task. To choose between resuming an interrupted task and starting a new export, read How Blober Handles Duplicate Files in Long-Running Backups. For a complete source setup, see How to Back Up Google Photos Without Google Takeout.

Blober doesn't compare file contents yet. Deduplication goes by the destination path.

1. In Blober, go to Workflows => New Workflow
2. Select Local as source or destination
3. Click Browse to open the file picker
4. Navigate to your folder and select it
5. Blober fills in the path

Create a workflow that backs up your Documents folder to Azure Blob, S3 or other cloud storage. For example:

• Source: Local /Users/you/Documents
• Destination: AWS S3 my-backup-bucket/documents/
• Action: Copy

Copy files from Google Drive or another cloud to a local folder for offline access. For example:

• Source: Google Drive My Files/Projects
• Destination: Local /Users/you/Projects
• Action: Copy

Copy files between drives or directories on your computer. For example:

• Source: Local /Users/you/Downloads
• Destination: Local /Volumes/ExternalDrive/Archive
• Action: Move

Try out a workflow configuration on local storage before you run it against cloud providers.

So that it never lists your whole file system by accident, the Local provider lists nothing until a start directory is set. You always browse through the file picker.

• Access depends on NTFS permissions and UAC settings
• Run Blober as Administrator if you need access to system directories
• Right-click a folder => Properties => Security to check permissions

• You may need to grant Files and Folders or Full Disk Access permissions
• Go to System Preferences => Security & Privacy => Privacy => Files and Folders
• If prompted, click Allow when Blober requests folder access

• Permissions come from the user running the app and from the mount's permissions
• Check permissions with ls -la /path/to/folder
• Fix permissions if needed:

  chmod -R u+rw /path/to/folder
  

• Exclude directories that hold thousands of small files
• Check whether antivirus is scanning files during operations
• Check disk health (SMART status)
• Use filters to exclude temporary files

• Make sure the drive is mounted
• On Linux, check /media/ or /mnt/ for mount points
• On macOS, check /Volumes/
• On Windows, check that the drive has a letter assigned

• Pick specific folders instead of entire drives
• Avoid system directories:
  • Windows: C:\Windows, C:\Program Files
  • macOS: /System, /Library
  • Linux: /bin, /etc, /usr
• Create dedicated backup folders to keep things organized

• Local operations are generally faster than cloud operations
• For directories with thousands of files, use filters to limit the scope
• Consider excluding temporary files (.tmp, .log, cache directories)

Blober follows symbolic links when it lists a folder, so linked files and folders are copied like any others. Avoid circular links (A => B => A) inside the folder you select.

Hidden files (names starting with . on Unix) are listed and copied like any other file, so a backup includes configuration files such as .bashrc and .gitconfig. Use a filter to leave them out.

Filters exclude certain file types from operations. Example filters:

*.tmp      # Temporary files
*.log      # Log files
.DS_Store  # macOS metadata
Thumbs.db  # Windows thumbnails
node_modules/  # Dependencies

The desktop app respects OS-level sandboxing. It has limited access to system files, you grant folder access explicitly, and it has no access to other applications' data.

In local-to-local operations, files never leave your computer. Cloud transfers go straight from your computer to the destination provider. Blober sends no data to its own servers and does not store your files there. That makes Local a good fit for sensitive files you don't want uploaded to the cloud.

• Windows File Permissions
• macOS Privacy Controls
• Linux File Permissions