Pika Backup: The Easiest Way to Back Up Your Data on Linux

Regular backups are one of those habits everyone knows they should adopt—yet many postpone it until it’s too late. One unexpected disk failure, and suddenly your files, photos, and important documents are gone.

On Linux, there’s no shortage of backup tools. Some are powerful but complex, others are beginner-friendly. If you’re looking for something simple, modern, and reliable, Pika Backup stands out as one of the best options available today.

Built under the GNOME ecosystem and powered by BorgBackup, it combines ease of use with proven technology—making backups accessible to everyone.

In this guide, you’ll learn exactly what Pika Backup is, what it can do, and how to set up your first backup step by step.

What Is Pika Backup?

Pika Backup is a free, open-source backup application designed for Linux systems—especially those running the GNOME desktop environment.

Its main goal is simple: allow anyone to create and manage backups without using the command line.

However, it’s important to understand its purpose. Pika Backup is designed to protect your personal data (documents, photos, videos), not to create full system snapshots. If you need full system restore capabilities, tools like Timeshift are better suited.

For everyday file protection, though, Pika Backup hits the sweet spot between simplicity and power.

Key Features of Pika Backup

Despite its clean interface, Pika Backup includes several powerful features:

Smart Deduplication

The first backup copies all selected files. After that, only changes are saved. This drastically reduces backup time and storage usage.

Built-in Encryption

You can secure your backups with a password, ensuring your data stays protected—especially useful for external drives or remote servers.

Automatic Scheduling

Set backups to run:

• Hourly
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

Once configured, everything runs quietly in the background.

Flexible Storage Options

You can store backups:

• Locally (external drive, USB stick)
• Remotely via SSH or SFTP (NAS or server)

How to Install Pika Backup on Linux

Pika Backup is widely available via Flatpak, which works across most Linux distributions.

Step 1: Install Flatpak (if needed)

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install flatpak

On Fedora, Flatpak is usually pre-installed.

Step 2: Add Flathub Repository

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Step 3: Install Pika Backup

flatpak install flathub org.gnome.World.PikaBackup

Launch it via your app menu or with:

flatpak run org.gnome.World.PikaBackup

How to Set Up Your First Backup

1. Start by Setting Up a Backup

Open Pika Backup and click “Set Up Backup”.

When setting up the backup repositories in Pika Backup software, you are given two options: either create a new repository or use an existing one.

Creating New Repositories

If you don’t have any existing repositories and want to create a new repository, you need to choose any one of the given location choices:

• Location on your Local Disk
• Remote Location
• External Drive(s)

Select your preferred location where you want to create your new backup repository.

Create a New Repository in the Local or External Disk:

If you wish to save your data on your local drive or any external drives connected to your local system, just click the appropriate location.

Enter a repository name, enter your encryption password if you prefer password-protection to your data. Then, click the “Create” button.

You can also click the gear button on the top to provide additional command line options. These command line arguments will be added to the call of borg binary.

Create a New Repository in a Remote Location:

If you choose to store your data in a remote location, you need to provide the explicit remote path as shown below:

ssh://user@server-ip/<path>

You should replace “user” with your remote username, “server-ip” with the IP address of your remote server, and “path” with your specific path.

Example:

ssh://ostechnix@192.168.1.50/~/mybackup

Please note, if you select a remote location as your backup repository, configuring Key-based (passwordless) SSH authentication is recommended. This setup ensures that scheduled backups can run automatically without requiring user intervention.

Using Existing Repositories

If you have already created backup repositories with other BorgBackup-compatible software, select a location that contains an existing backup repository.

• Location on your Local Disk
• Remote Location

View Configured Backup Locations

Once you have selected the backup location and created the backup repository, it will appear under the “Backup” tab in the Pika Backup interface.

As you see, I have configured my Seagate 1TB external hard disk as my backup location.

Clicking on the Backup Location will display additional details, including the Volume name, Device name, Backup directory path (i.e., the repository), and the total and available space at the destination location.

We have now created backup repositories to store the data. It is time to run the backup jobs.

Backup Files with Pika Backup

Under the “Backup” tab of the Pika Backup interface, you will see the list of files/directories to be backed up. By default, your entire HOME directory will be selected to backup.

If you wish to add other directories in the backup, click the plus (+) sign in the “Files to Backup” section and then choose the directories that you want to include in the backup.

Pika Backup also provides an option to exclude certain directories or files from the backup. If you wish to exclude a directory from the backup, simply click the plus (+) sign in the “Exclude from backup” section and select the directories you want to exclude.

After choosing all the directories to backup, click the “Back Up Now” option. Pika backup will begin to backup selected directories to the repository. It will take some time depending upon the size of the files.

Upon successful backup, you will see a message that says “Last backup Successful”.

If you click on the last successful job, you will see additional backup information, such as the size of all files, the number of files saved, and the total backup space used.

Verify Backup

Once the backup job is completed, you can verify it under the “Archives” tab of the Pika Backup interface. Under the Archives tab, you will find a list of all backups so far, including the date and time of the archive, archive name, duration taken, etc.

Schedule Backups

Pika Backup enables you to schedule regular backups at specific time intervals.

To enable scheduled jobs, navigate to the “Schedule” tab and toggle the “Regularly Create Backup” button to ON. Choose the frequency of the backup, such as hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly, and set the preferred time for the backup.

Now, Pika Backup will automatically start the backup at the specified time.

You can also decide whether you want to remove old archives after creating new ones. If so, go to the “Delete Old Archives” section and toggle the “Regularly Cleanup Archives” button to ON. Then select the amount and time span of archives to retain. The default values are:

• Keep hourly – 48
• Keep daily – 14
• Keep weekly – 4
• Keep monthly – 12
• Keep annual – 10

You can set your own values from the “Preserved Archives” section.

Click the “Save Configuration” option to begin automatically deleting old archives when they reach their set limit. This can be useful if you have storage constraints.

Browse Files in the Backup

Navigate to the “Archives” tab in the Pika Backup interface, click the drop-down button under the Archives section, and then click the “Browse saved files” button.

This action will mount the archive as read-only and automatically open its contents in your file browser, allowing you to easily browse through the contents of the mounted archive.

Since the archive is mounted as read-only, you cannot create new files or folders, rename, cut, or delete the existing files and folders inside the archive.

Once you are done browsing the files, click the “Stop browsing archive files” button in Pika Backup to unmount the archive.

Restore Files

To restore files, simply mount the archive by clicking on the “Browse saved files” button under the Archives tab. The archive will then be mounted and automatically opened in your default file browser.

You can simply copy and paste the contents of your archive to your local system.

Delete Archives

If you no longer need a backup archive, go to the Archives tab, unmount the archive if it is currently mounted, and then click the “Delete Archive” button to remove the archive.

Pika Backup will prompt if you really want to remove the backup. Confirm the deletion by clicking the “Delete Archive” button.

Remove Backup Setup

To remove the configured backup setup, click the three horizontal dots button and click the “Remove Backup Setup” button.

⚠️ Note: This does not delete your backups, only the configuration.

FAQ

What is Pika Backup?

A simple, open-source backup tool for Linux that uses BorgBackup for secure and efficient backups.

Can I use existing backups?

Yes, any Borg-compatible repository can be reused.

How do I exclude files?

Use the Exclude section and select folders you don’t want included.

How do I restore files?

Browse an archive and copy files back manually.

Can backups run automatically?

Yes, scheduling allows fully automated backups.

Final Thoughts

Backups don’t need to be complicated—and Pika Backup proves it.

With its clean interface, powerful backend, and automation features, it turns a task many people avoid into something effortless. Once it’s set up, you can forget about it—until the day you actually need it.

And when that day comes, you’ll be glad you took a few minutes to get it right.