Data Backup Digest

Great backup software isn't always easy to find. While there are a countless number of mainstream solutions, the market is flooded with adware, malware and applications that just don't work. That's why it's sad to see the end of CrashPlan for Home. Effective as of late October 2018, the original announcement was made all the way back in August 2017. Nonetheless, it doesn't make it easier for users who suddenly have to find new backup solution.

Since the software is no longer supported by the company, it's left sitting dormant on thousands of Macs across the globe – and it's simply not necessary. To remove CrashPlan for Home from your system, follow the steps described below. Not only will it free up your hard drive space, but it might even result in a minor improvement to performance, too.

1. Locate CrashPlan in the Finder. Select "Go" and then "Go to Folder" – or press Command+Shift+G – and enter "/Library/Application Support/CrashPlan/Uninstall.app" into the dialog box. Click the "Go" button to continue.

2. if CrashPlan is unavailable within Finder, it likely means that the app was installed just for your user. In this case, use line "~/Library/Application Support/CrashPlan/Uninstall.app" and click "Go."

3. Double-click on the uninstall application and click "Uninstall".

4. Enter your administrator password when prompted.

5. If everything was successful, you'll receive a prompt telling you that "CrashPlan has been removed." Simply click on the "Exit" button to close it out for good.

6. It's a good idea to delete the empty CrashPlan folder, too. While it's not really affecting much on your hard drive, it's not helping anything, either. Simply navigate up one level in the Finder by pressing Command+Up Arrow and remove the folder as normal.

7. Don't forget to delete any local backups you might have. These files are easy to identify as they have long numeric names and always contain a cp.properties file.

Although it's not a difficult process by any means, it's something that some Mac users are bound to ignore. While the software probably isn't hurting anything by simply existing on your hard drive, it's not helping anything, either – it just makes sense to remove it for good.

What Now?

While CrashPlan has effectively ended support for any of their home products, they're not stepping out of the game entirely. Instead, they're switching their focus to enterprise computing and the small business sector.

Although many users of CrashPlan for Home are upset, president and CEO of the software's development company, Code42, explained the reason for the move by saying: "The needs of our business and consumer customers have diverged dramatically in the past few years. With the rise in threats facing organizations today, we are uniquely positioned to deliver the data security and visibility solutions those organizations require. This continues to fuel our high growth and is driving our strategic decision to focus solely on business and education markets. We worked hard to find the best possible alternatives for CrashPlan for Home customers as we transition out of the consumer market."