How to Use Backblaze B2 in 2026: A Practical Setup Guide

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🔬 Expert ReviewLast updated: October 26, 2026

How to Use Backblaze B2 in 2026: A Practical Setup Guide

You need cheap cloud storage for backups, an offsite copy of a NAS, or a place to archive files, and someone told you Backblaze B2 is the cheap option. Now you’re staring at buckets, application keys, and lifecycle settings with no idea where to start.

Here’s the short version, then the full walkthrough.

Key Takeaways

  • Backblaze B2 is object storage, priced around $6/TB/month as of writing, with no egress fees to most destinations
  • Setup takes about 10 minutes: create a bucket, generate an app key, connect a client
  • You almost never want to use B2 through the web UI for transfers; use a desktop client or CLI
  • Lifecycle rules can auto-delete old file versions and keep your bill small
  • Watch out for Class B/C transaction charges on small-file workloads

What Backblaze B2 Actually Is

B2 is Backblaze’s cloud object storage, the same category as Amazon S3. You upload files into “buckets” and access them over the internet through an API, a CLI, or a desktop client.

Don’t confuse it with Backblaze Computer Backup. That product backs up one whole computer and costs a flat fee. B2 is pay-for-what-you-store and works with anything: servers, NAS devices, backup software, scripts.

The reason people pick it over S3 is price. Storage runs around $6/TB/month as of writing, and downloads are free when you egress to other cloud providers like Cloudflare. Against S3’s roughly $23/TB/month standard tier, the difference is real at any meaningful volume.

Step 1: Create Your Account and a Bucket

  1. Sign up at backblaze.com and choose Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage (not Computer Backup).
  2. In the web console, go to B2 Cloud Storage > Buckets and click Create a Bucket.
  3. Give it a unique lowercase name, something like myname-backups-2026.
  4. Set Files in Bucket are: choose Private unless you’re hosting files for a website. For backups, always private.
  5. Leave Object Lock off unless you need ransomware-style immutability (more on that below).
  6. Click Create Bucket.

That’s it. The bucket exists and costs you nothing until files land in it.

Step 2: Create an Application Key

This trips people up. Your master account key exists, but you should never paste it into third-party tools.

  1. Go to B2 Cloud Storage > Application Keys.
  2. Click Add a New Application Key.
  3. Name it after the tool that will use it, like “rclone-laptop” or “duplicacy-nas”.
  4. Set Allow access to Bucket(s) to your specific bucket. Restricting the key means a leaked key can only touch one bucket.
  5. Set the key capabilities to what’s needed. For a backup tool: readFiles and writeFiles. For a restore-and-delete scenario, add deleteFiles.
  6. Click Create New Key.

Copy the keyID and applicationKey immediately. The secret is shown exactly once. If you lose it, delete the key and make a new one.

Step 3: Connect a Client (Pick One)

The web upload page works for a handful of files, but it’s slow and clunky. For real use, pick a client.

Option A: Cyberduck or Mountain Duck (easiest, GUI)

Cyberduck is free and handles B2 natively.

  1. Open Cyberduck, click Open Connection.
  2. Choose Backblaze B2 from the dropdown.
  3. Enter your keyID as the username and the applicationKey as the password.
  4. Connect. Drag and drop files.

If you want the bucket to appear as a drive letter on your machine, Mountain Duck does that. It’s paid, around $39 as of writing.

Option B: rclone (best for scripts and power users)

rclone is a free command-line tool that talks to basically every cloud. We recommend it often on BriskPick for exactly this kind of job.

  1. Install rclone, then run rclone config.
  2. Choose n for a new remote, name it b2.
  3. Pick Backblaze B2 from the list, paste your keyID and applicationKey.
  4. Accept the defaults for hard_delete and the rest.
  5. Test it: rclone ls b2:myname-backups-2026
  6. Copy a folder: rclone copy /path/to/folder b2:myname-backups-2026/folder

For scheduled backups, pair rclone with cron (Linux/Mac) or Task Scheduler (Windows).

Option C: Backup software with native B2 support

Duplicacy, Restic, Kopia, Arq, and Duplicati all support B2 directly. If your goal is versioned computer backups, this beats manual copying. You enter your keyID, application key, and bucket name in the app’s storage settings and it handles encryption, deduplication, and versions for you. Honestly, for pure backup this is the option most people should pick. Manual rclone copies have no versioning unless you build it yourself.

Step 4: Set Lifecycle Rules (Do This Before Uploading)

If your backup tool uploads new versions of files forever, your bucket grows without limit. Lifecycle rules fix that.

  1. Go to Buckets, click Bucket Settings next to your bucket.
  2. Under Lifecycle Settings, add a rule.
  3. A common setup: Keep only the last version of each file, and delete files deleted from the bucket after 1 day (so deletes propagate). Or keep versions for a set number of days, like 30.

Without this, I’ve seen people end up with a 4 TB bucket holding 1 TB of actual data and three TB of old versions. B2 charges for all of it.

Step 5: Understand the Pricing Gotchas

Storage is the cheap part. Transactions are where surprise bills come from.

  • Class B transactions (listing files, most API reads) have a free daily allowance, then cost a small fee per 10,000 calls. Backup software that lists thousands of tiny files every run can rack these up.
  • Class C transactions (uploads, some API calls) have a smaller free allowance.
  • Minimum storage duration: files deleted before 30 days still bill for a partial month.
  • Egress is free up to 3x your average stored data per month, and always free to certain partner networks. Beyond that you pay per GB.

Practical fix: if you’re backing up millions of small files, bundle them. Tools like restic and Duplicacy pack files into chunks automatically, which keeps transaction counts sane.

Optional: Object Lock for Ransomware Protection

When creating the bucket, you can enable Object Lock. Combined with a retention setting, this makes files undeletable by anyone, including you, until the retention expires.

For a second copy of critical data, it’s worth considering. The tradeoff is harsh: a misconfigured retention period locks you into paying for data you can’t delete. Enable it only on buckets you’re sure about.

Common Problems and Fixes

“401 unauthorized / bad_auth_token”
Your application key is wrong, expired, or restricted to a different bucket. Delete the key, create a new one scoped to the right bucket, and re-enter it.

Uploads crawl at a few MB/s
Single-stream uploads to B2 can be slow depending on your route. rclone and most backup tools support parallel transfers. In rclone, try --transfers 8. Also check that you’re not in a region far from Backblaze’s datacenters (they’re in the US and EU).

Bill higher than expected
Almost always old file versions. Check your lifecycle rules, then run a bucket report in the web console to see stored data versus billed data.

Deleted files reappear or won’t delete
That’s versioning. Deleting hides the current version; the old versions still exist. Your lifecycle rule is what actually removes them.

B2 vs. the Alternatives, Briefly

Against S3: B2 wins on price, S3 wins on ecosystem and region coverage. Against Glacier-class archive tiers: those are cheaper per TB but charge retrieval fees and have hour-long delays, so B2 is the better pick for data you restore from regularly.

FAQ

Is Backblaze B2 good for backing up a Synology NAS?
Yes. Hyper Backup supports B2 natively. Enter the keyID, application key, and bucket in Hyper Backup’s target settings.

Do I need my own encryption?
Your data is encrypted at rest on Backblaze’s side, but the provider technically holds the keys. For sensitive data, use a client that encrypts before upload (restic, Kopia, Arq, Duplicacy all do).

How much does 1 TB cost per month?
Around $6 for storage as of writing, plus a small amount for transactions. Realistically expect $6–$8 total for a light backup workload.

Can I use B2 as a website host?
Yes, by making a bucket public and pointing a CDN like Cloudflare at it. This is a common combo since Cloudflare egress from B2 is free.

What happens if I stop paying?
Your account goes into a restricted state and you risk eventual data deletion. Download everything before canceling.

Next action: create your bucket, make a scoped application key, and run one test upload with Cyberduck or rclone today. Ten minutes now beats recovering from a failed drive later.

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