# Resolving "Warning Missing" Errors for Items Removed from Disk

### Summary

Your File Backup job completed with a warning indicating that one or more items included in the Protected Item could not be found on disk. The backup itself ran successfully for everything else, but eazyBackup is reporting that a top-level folder, file, or UNC path you previously told it to back up no longer exists.

### Symptoms

The backup job completes with a **Warning** status (not an error), and the job log contains one or more entries similar to the following:

```
Warning Missing: '\\192.168.1.100\Documents\Work Projects'

```

The warning may also reference a local path, for example:

```
Warning Missing: 'C:\Users\User\Downloads'
Warning Missing: 'D:\Archive\OldProject.zip'
```

### Cause

This warning is raised when a path explicitly listed in the Protected Item's **Items** list cannot be located at the start of the backup. eazyBackup only emits `WarningMissing` for **top-level entries** you have configured directly — that is, the exact folder, file, or UNC path you added when setting up the Protected Item. Subfolders or files that disappear underneath an included parent folder do not trigger this warning; they are simply omitted from that run.

Common reasons the item is no longer found:

* The folder or file has been deleted, renamed, or moved.
* A removable drive (USB, external HDD) is not connected.
* A network share or NAS is offline, unreachable, or has been renamed.
* A drive letter has changed (e.g., `D:\` is now `E:\`).

### Resolution

Follow the steps below to confirm the item's status and update the Protected Item if it is no longer needed.

#### Step 1 — Confirm the item no longer exists on disk

Before changing your backup configuration, verify that the path in the warning is genuinely gone and not just temporarily unavailable:

* **Local paths** — Open File Explorer and browse to the path shown in the warning. Confirm the folder or file does not exist.
* **UNC / network paths** — Paste the full UNC path (for example, \\\192.168.1.100\Documents\Work Projects) into the File Explorer address bar. Confirm the share is online and that the folder is missing, not just inaccessible.
* **Removable drives** — Check that the drive is connected and assigned the expected drive letter.

If the item *should* still exist (the share is offline, the drive is unplugged, or the folder was moved), restore access to the item rather than removing it from the backup. The warning will clear automatically on the next successful run.

If the item is genuinely no longer needed in the backup, continue to Step 2.

#### Step 2 — Open the Protected Item for editing

1. Launch the eazyBackup client.
2. In the left-hand list, select the Protected Item that produced the warning (in the example below, **File Backup**).
3. Click **Configure** in the top right of the main panel.

<figure><img src="/files/51zYgYUpEfyCY8gUV8fU" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Step 3 — Remove the missing item from the Items list

1. In the configuration view, select the **Items** tab.
2. Locate the path reported in the `WarningMissing` entry and click it once to highlight the row.
3. Click the **minus (−)** button on the right side of the list to remove the item.
4. Repeat for each path reported in the warning.
5. Click **Save** at the bottom of the window to commit the change.

<figure><img src="/files/uKXVbfAqACCDCxiwENuJ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Step 4 — Verify on the next backup run

Either wait for the next scheduled run or trigger the Protected Item manually. The job should complete with a **Success** status and no further `WarningMissing` entries for the removed paths.

### Notes and Best Practices

* The warning is informational by design. eazyBackup deliberately does **not** silently drop missing top-level items, because doing so would mask configuration mistakes (for example, a NAS that is offline on the night of a backup). Always confirm the item is truly gone before removing it from the configuration.
* Removing an item from the Items list does **not** delete previously backed-up versions of that data from your Storage Vault. Existing snapshots remain available for restore, subject to your Retention policy.
* If you want the data to be removed from your vault as well, adjust the Protected Item's **Retention** settings or run a manual retention pass after removing the item.
* For UNC paths, prefer using a hostname (`\\nas01\Media\...`) over an IP address (`\\192.168.2.200\Media\...`) where possible, so DHCP changes on the target device do not cause future `WarningMissing` events.


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