How to Turn Off Norton 360 Backups

To turn off Norton 360 backups in the current Windows app, open Norton, click Security on the left pane, click Open on the Cloud Backup tile, click Manage next to your backup set, and turn off Automatically Sync on the Settings tab. In the older version 22 app, open Device Security, go to Settings > Backup Settings, turn Backup off, and click Apply.

This stops new backups but doesn’t delete files already in the cloud. Cloud Backup is Windows-only, so there’s nothing to turn off on a Mac.

Check Which Norton 360 App You Have

Norton 360 on Windows comes in two very different layouts, and the backup controls are in different places in each one.

• Current app (version 24 and later): the main window has a menu down the left side with items such as Security and Settings. Cloud Backup appears as a tile on the Security dashboard.
• Older app (version 22 and earlier): the main window has Settings and Help links along the top, and Settings contains a Backup Settings link.

To confirm your version in the current app, click Settings on the left pane, then the About tab. In the older app, click Help, then About under General Information, as described in Norton’s guide to finding your Norton product version.

Norton has announced end of life for version 22.x and earlier on Windows and recommends moving to the latest Norton 360 app. If you still have the older layout, the older steps below will work for now, but updating is the better long-term fix.

In both versions, a My Norton window may appear when you open Norton. If it does, click Open next to Device Security to get to the main window.

How to Turn Off Automatic Backups in the Current Norton 360 App

The current app does not have one master Backup switch. Instead, each backup set (a saved list of files and folders that Norton backs up) has its own Automatically Sync option. Norton describes this option as the setting that backs up the latest version of your files periodically, so turning it off stops the automatic backups for that set.

1. Open Norton 360 from the Start menu or the Norton icon in the taskbar’s notification area. If you see the My Norton window, click Open next to Device Security.
2. On the left pane, click Security.
3. Find the Cloud Backup tile and click Open. If Norton asks you to sign in, use your Norton account email and password.
4. In the Cloud Backup window, choose the Cloud Backup tab. Each of your backup sets appears in a list.
5. Click Manage next to the backup set you want to stop.
6. In the window that opens, click the Settings tab.
7. Turn off Automatically Sync.
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for every other backup set in the list.

What to expect: Norton stops backing up that set on its own. Your existing backup stays in the cloud, and you can still restore files from it. Local backups never run automatically anyway, because backing up to a drive needs you to start it.

To turn backups back on: return to the same Settings tab and turn Automatically Sync on again.

If Norton’s cloud backup was your only backup, set up another one before you leave it off. Windows has its own tool for this: you can back up Windows 11 to an external hard drive with File History.

Still on Windows 10? Here’s how to back up Windows 10 to an external drive instead.

How to Turn Off Backup in Norton 360 Version 22 and Earlier

Before you start: with this switch off, no automatic backup tasks run for any of your backup sets, and the Backup status in the main window changes from Protected to Disabled. Your existing backups are not deleted.

1. Open Norton. If the My Norton window appears, click Open next to Device Security.
2. In the main window, click Settings.
3. Click Backup Settings.
4. In the Backup row, move the On/Off switch to Off.
5. Click Apply, then close the Settings window.

These steps match Norton’s article on turning Norton backup on or off, which also lists two shortcuts for the same setting:

• Quick Controls: in the Settings window, clear the Backup check box under Quick Controls.
• Backup Details: in the main window, click Backup, then View Details, and choose Turn Off Backup under Things You Can Do.

To undo it: repeat the steps and move the switch back to On. While backup is off, you can still back up by hand with Run Backup in the main window.

How to Stop Norton Backup Reminders and Status Icons

Turning off automatic backups as described above stops most backup reminders. Two settings in the current app handle what’s left.

Hide the backup icons on your files. Norton can add small status marks to backed-up files in File Explorer.

1. Open Norton and click Settings on the left pane.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click the slider next to Show backup status icons in File Explorer so that it turns red (off).
4. Press F5 in File Explorer to refresh the window.

This option is in version 25.4.10068 and later, and hiding the icons does not change your backups. If you don’t see it, run LiveUpdate in Norton to get the latest version.

Reduce routine pop-ups. Click Settings > Notifications, then turn off Send me non-critical app activity alerts. For a quiet period, choose a time next to Silence all notifications. Product notifications cannot be turned off permanently, and silencing them can also hide critical security alerts.

How to Delete Your Existing Norton Cloud Backups

Warning: deleting a backup set removes those copies from Norton’s storage, and you cannot restore files from it afterward. Make sure your important files are saved somewhere else first.

To free space in your cloud storage, delete backup sets you no longer need. These steps follow Norton’s article on deleting backup sets and files.

Delete a backup set in the Norton app

1. Open Norton and click Security on the left pane.
2. On the Cloud Backup tile, click Open.
3. Choose Cloud Backup or Local backups, depending on where the set is stored.
4. Click Manage next to the backup set you want to remove.
5. Click the Settings tab.
6. Under Delete Backup, click Delete.
7. In the confirmation window, click Delete Backup.

To remove only some files instead of the whole set, open the Files tab in step 5, select the items, click the menu icon at the bottom-right corner, and choose Remove from backup > Remove and exclude. Norton then leaves those items out of future backups.

Delete a backup set from your Norton account

This works from any browser, which helps if the computer that made the backup is gone.

1. Sign in to your Norton account.
2. On the My Norton page, under Cloud Backup, click View Backup Sets.
3. Click the trash icon next to the set you want to remove.
4. Click Delete, then Close.

Delete a backup set in version 22 and earlier

In the My Norton window, click the drop-down arrow next to Cloud Backup and choose Manage Backup Sets. Pick the set from the Backup Set drop-down list, click Delete, and then click Yes.

If a deletion fails, a service outage or maintenance can be the cause, so wait a while and try again.

Troubleshooting

There is no Backup Settings link. You have the current app. Use the Automatically Sync steps instead.

There is no Cloud Backup tile. Cloud Backup is included only in some Norton plans and only on Windows. Check that you are signed in to Norton, then click Settings > Features to see which features your plan includes.

Backups still run after you turn them off. Check every backup set in the Cloud Backup window, because Automatically Sync is set separately for each one. Don’t accept a prompt to start a backup, since that runs a new one.

The status icons are still showing. Refresh File Explorer with F5. If the setting is already off, turn it on, wait a few seconds, turn it off again, and refresh.

You can’t delete a backup set. Wait and try again later in case of a Norton service issue, or delete the set from your Norton account in a browser instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

After turning off automatic backups, open the Cloud Backup window once more to confirm that every backup set shows Automatically Sync as off. If you no longer need the old copies, delete them to free your storage.