Plugging in a drive does not start a backup
There is no plug-in trigger. A schedule that waits for the drive gets you the same result, plus three quick ways to back up the moment you plug in.
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GBM AI does not start a backup when you plug a drive in. There is no "when the drive is connected" rhythm. A schedule that waits for the drive comes close, and a backup is always one click away.
Let the schedule wait for the drive#
Give the USB job a normal schedule: Daily at a time the drive is usually plugged in, such as 18:00.
When the run is due and the drive is not connected, the run does not fail. It waits. The agent looks for the drive every 30 seconds and starts the backup the moment you plug it in, under any drive letter. It waits as long as the job's catch-up window: 12 hours with Run a missed backup as soon as possible, but not more than 12 hours late, which is the default. You can raise it to 72 hours on the job's Schedule step.
So with a daily 18:00 job, plugging the drive in any time before 06:00 the next morning starts the backup. After that the run is missed, and the job waits for 18:00 again.
If you plug the drive in when no run is due, nothing happens until the next scheduled time.
Get a warning in time#
On the Where step, Warn me if the drive isn't connected 10 minutes before a run is on for local and USB destinations. Ten minutes before a scheduled run, if the drive is missing, a Windows notification tells you, even with the GBM AI window closed.
Back up the moment you plug in#
Any of these starts the job at once:
- Right-click the GBM AI icon in the notification area ▸ Back up now ▸ the job.
- A desktop shortcut for the job: double-click it. See A desktop shortcut that runs a job.
- Run on the job's row on Home or the Jobs page.
A backup you start while the drive is still unplugged stops at once with E-DEST-004, The removable drive isn't connected. Plug it in and start it again.
What does start on plug-in#
A restore. On a drive that is not connected, Restore when plugged in sets the restore up now, and it starts by itself when the drive appears. See Restoring from a drive that is not connected.
If you ask Genie for it#
If you ask Genie to back up "whenever I plug it in", it picks When I sign in to Windows, the nearest rhythm, and says so. That runs when you sign in to Windows, not on plug-in. Ask for a time instead: every evening at 6.