Backing up stores safe point-in-time copies of your data so that your data can be restored. You do not interact with backed up data; it is safely stored in case of an emergency. You use backup software to back up your data. Syncing replicates your data across multiple computers but does not create a backup copy of the data. Syncing allows you to interact with your data on more than one device. Syncing keeps your data in the cloud but is not used for disaster recovery.