Encrypt & Back Up Your Hard Drive to Proton Drive with RcloneView

September 22, 2025 · 4 min read

Tech Writer

Keep your most important files safe, private, and accessible—sync your hard drive to Proton Drive using a clean, point-and-click workflow.

Why back up a hard drive to Proton Drive

If your photos, creative projects, or work archives live only on a single disk, they’re one coffee spill or drive error away from vanishing. Proton Drive adds an encrypted, privacy-first cloud layer, while RcloneView gives you a friendly GUI to connect sources and destinations, preview changes, and automate sync—no CLI needed.

Understanding Proton Drive (at a glance)

End-to-end encryption and privacy-centric design
Cross-platform access with share links and file versioning
Supported by rclone’s Proton backend, so you can browse, copy, and sync through RcloneView

Understanding your hard drive

Large folders, nested structures, and multiple versions are common
Reliable tools (resume, compare, selective copy) make migrations smoother

Why move from a hard drive to Proton Drive?

Protection: a secure, off-site copy for disaster recovery
Privacy: encrypted storage without giving up ease of use
Productivity: access files anywhere, share with confidence

Manage & Sync All Clouds in One Place

RcloneView is a cross-platform GUI for rclone. Compare folders, transfer or sync files, and automate multi-cloud workflows with a clean, visual interface.

One-click jobs: Copy · Sync · Compare
Schedulers & history for reliable automation
Works with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, S3, WebDAV, SFTP and more

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Get Started Free →

Free core features. Plus automations available.

Getting ready

Before you start:

Organize the source: group content (e.g., Photos/, Projects/, Docs/) for cleaner jobs
Check Proton Drive capacity: ensure enough space for your initial upload and future growth
Decide the approach: one-time upload, staged batches, or continuous sync with a schedule
Optionally add encryption layers: advanced users can stack rclone crypt for extra control

🔍 Helpful guides

Connect Proton Drive in RcloneView

RcloneView wraps rclone’s configuration in a guided, click-through flow.

Open RcloneView and click + New Remote
Select Proton Drive and follow the sign-in/token prompts (per the guide), then name it (e.g., MyProton)
On the other side, add a Local remote (your hard drive path, like D:\Media or /Users/you/Archive)
Confirm both appear side-by-side in the Explorer pane

Transfer & sync options

Drag & Drop

Visually copy files/folders from the Local panel into Proton Drive—ideal for one-off moves or quick wins.

👉 See more: Copying Files using Drag and Drop

Compare & Copy

Run Compare to preview differences (new, changed, missing) before you copy—perfect for selective updates and avoiding duplicates.

👉 See more: Compare and Manage Files

Compare results highlighting changed files in RcloneView

Sync & Scheduled jobs

Mirror chosen local folders into Proton Drive on a schedule—nightly, weekly, or custom. Always dry-run first to validate planned actions, then save as a reusable Job.

👉 See more:

Running a saved sync job to Proton Drive in RcloneView

Pro tips

Start with a pilot folder to validate speed, structure, and filters
Use filters to exclude caches, temp files, and renders you don’t need in the cloud
Keep the source read-only during large initial uploads to minimize drift

Conclusion — key takeaways & extra tips

Why: off-site resilience plus privacy-first storage for your most important files
How: RcloneView lets you connect Local and Proton Drive, then Drag & Drop, Compare, or Sync—with scheduling for hands-off protection
Scale safely: upload in batches, monitor jobs, and review logs to keep a clean audit trail