Backblaze – Resolve bzfileids.dat File Error

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This is a quick one. I recently had this Backblaze error pop up on one of my Mac computers.

Turns out you don’t need to contact support to resolve it, but you do need to follow the instructions in this article. I’ve copied the steps below  so you don’t need to read the article if that’s all too much for you.

Revalidating your Backup Data (Mac)

  1. Navigate to https://secure.backblaze.com/update.htm.
  2. Download the installer for macOS.
    Warning
    Do not uninstall the Backblaze Client, and do not skip the next step.
  3. Restart your computer.
  4. When your computer is back up, open the installer and click Install Now.
  5. Restart your computer.
  6. Click the Backblaze icon in your menu bar to open the Backup Client.
  7. Select Preferences.
  8. Press and hold the Option key, and click Restore Options.
  9. Let the process run for three to four hours.

Why Does This Happen?

According to the article, “[i]f you back up an extremely large number of files, or if your computer has used the Backblaze Computer Backup software for a very long time, the bzfileids.dat file may become too large to be fully loaded into RAM, prompting an error message”. I think I’ve been doing both, so there you go.