The Photo Backup Stick will eliminate exact duplicates by file fingerprint (hash value). Only one copy of exact duplicates will be backed up. When you do new backups, only new photos will be backed up.

If you have multiple copies of a photo on other devices and back up multiple devices, you can remove duplicates at the push of a button. Go to the “Options” page on the Windows or Mac apps and click the “Remove Duplicates” button. Only exact duplicates are removed. Photos that are similar but not exact duplicates will not be removed.

By default, it will back up all JPEG/JPG photos because this is the most common format for photos. You can select to have it back up PNG, GIF, TIFF, RAW, BMP, PDF, EPS, 3FR, ARI, ARW, BAY, CRW, CR2, CR3, CAP, DATA, DCS, DCR, DNG, DRF, EIP, ERF, EFF, GPR, IIQ, K25, KDC, MDC, MEF, MOS, MRW, NEF, NRW, OBM, ORF, PEF, PTX PXN, R3D, RAF, RWL, RW2, RWZ, SR2, SRF, SRW, TIF, and X3F images as well.

For videos, it backs up M4V, MP4, MOV, AVI, 3GP, WEBM, MKV, TS, WMV, FLV, VOB, 3G2, and AVCHD formats.

The Photo Backup Stick Omega supports all iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch running iOS 13 or newer (for older devices, backups can be done through a computer using the computer app). 

It also supports all Android devices that running Android 6 or newer (older devices can be backed up using the Windows or Mac apps).

The Photo Backup Stick runs on Windows 7, 8, or 10 as well as Mac OS 10.12 or newer, iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch running iOS 13 or newer (for older devices, backups can be done through a computer using the computer app), and all Android devices that running Android 6 or newer (older devices can be backed up using the Windows or Mac apps).

The Photo Backup Stick Omega version plugs directly into computers, iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, and Android phones or tablets. 

By default, the Photo Backup Stick scans for photos in the the most common places on computers. If your pictures are stored somewhere else, you must change where it scans. For phones, if you have cloud backup enabled, the photos may have been removed from your phone and replaced with small thumbnails to save space. For iPhones and iPads, turn the option on to backup from iCloud. For Android phones and tablets, you must download your photos from your cloud account to the phone before backing up.

Scanning Other Locations for Photos: The Windows and Mac apps both allow you to add locations to scan for photos. If all your photos are not being backed up, you will want to change where it scans. Please watch the video tutorials on how to scan in other locations.

Windows App – Scanning in Other Locations
How to add locations to scan in the Windows app

Mac App – Scanning in Other Locations
How to add locations to scan in the Mac app

iPhone/iPad Users: If you photos are stored in iCloud, make sure the app settings are set to back up from iCloud.

Android Users: Launch the Google Photos app and tap the menu icon (the three dots … ). Then tap the Settings icon (the cog). Make sure the Backup & sync option is switched off.

The Photo Backup Stick backs up files from smallest to largest. This means it seems like the backup is slowing down when the actual amount of data being transferred to the stick remains constant. It can really slow down when backing up large video files. Keep in mind that it’s not the number of files being backed up that determines the speed of a backup, it’s the total amount of data being transferred.

If you accidentally delete the PhotoBackupStartup app or other files on your Photo Backup Stick or your computer asked you to reformat your stick, you can restore the drive to factory settings using the Photo Backup Restore app.
Please Note: Restoring your drive to factory settings will wipe any backups from your Photo Backup Stick! Please use the Copy backup from the stick to PC feature to save your backup to your computer before restoring your stick.

To restore your stick to factory settings, follow these directions:

1. Download the Photo Backup Restore app from: https://photobackupstick.com/pbs-restore.exe
2. Plug your Photo Backup Stick into your computer.
3. Open the pbs-restore.exe app (note, your computer may only show it as pbs-restore).
4. Check the “PHOTOBACKUP” drive and click the “Recover” button. Please Note: If Windows says your Photo Backup Stick needs to be formatted, please ignore this as the recovery tool will automatically format your stick.
5. Your Photo Backup Stick will now be restored to factory settings.
   
   

Please Note: Only official Photo Backup Sticks can be restored. If you try to restore a normal USB drive, it will not show up in the list. Also, if your Photo Backup Stick has been damaged or is faulty, it will not show up in the list to restore.

The Photo Backup Stick Windows and Android apps support English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Japanese.

Your Mac settings may not allow for external drives to appear. Please follow these instructions to enable External Disks:

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Go to Preferences > General.
3. Check that the External disks option is enabled.
   
   

If this does not fix it so your Photo Backup Stick appears when it is plugged in, you may need to force Mac to see it. After connecting your stick, do the following:

1. Go to System Preferences > Disk Utility.
2. Check that the external disk is listed in the left sidebar.
3. Highlight your stick and select Mount. It should now appear under devices in the Finder.

The manuals are found on the USB drive as PDFs. You can also download them from here:

Photo Backup Stick Manuals

Photo Backup Stick for Windows Quick Start Guide

Photo Backup Stick for Mac Quick Start Guide

Photo Backup Stick User Manual

You may also learn more about uses of the Photo Backup Stick from these articles.