Which type of backup only copies data items that have changed since the last backup?

Incremental backup is specifically designed to improve efficiency by only copying data items that have changed since the last backup, whether that was a full backup or another incremental backup. This method significantly reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored and the time required to complete the backup, as it avoids duplicating data that has already been secured in prior backup sessions.

For example, if a full backup is performed on a Sunday and an incremental backup is performed on subsequent days, only the data that has changed since the last full or incremental backup will be included. This means that if you back up on Monday, only Monday's changes are saved; on Tuesday, only those changes made since Monday are saved, and so forth. This is unlike a full backup, which captures every selected file and folder every time it is executed, resulting in a larger storage requirement. A backup copy isn't a specific backup type but refers to creating an identical copy of existing data, and cloud backup refers more broadly to storing data in an off-site server infrastructure accessible via the internet.