Acronis True Image 2020 Standard – Disk Imaging, File Backup, System Clone

What is included in Acronis True Image 2020 Standard?

Full-image backup – Protects entire disks, partitions, or selected files and folders.
Active disk cloning – Duplicates a running Windows system without restarting it.
Acronis Survival Kit – Bootable recovery drive restores systems that no longer start.
Active Protection – Blocks ransomware and cryptomining attacks in real time.
Core Capacity – AES-256 encrypted backups to external drives, NAS, FTP.
Important – Acronis Cloud storage, commercial use rights, and Windows Server support are not included in this edition.

What are the main benefits of Acronis True Image 2020 Standard?

Acronis True Image 2020 Standard is a one-time purchase backup program for complete local data protection on Windows PCs and Macs. It combines disk imaging, cloning, recovery media, and anti-ransomware defense in a single dashboard.

One-time purchase – Local backup features without any running subscription.
Complete disaster recovery – Restore a full system after drive failure or infection.
Ransomware defense – Active Protection stops attacks before files get encrypted.
Fast SSD migration – Clone an old disk directly onto new hardware.
Mobile device backup – Secures iOS and Android data to local storage.
Flexible backup targets – External drives, NAS, network shares, and FTP supported.

What does Acronis True Image 2020 Standard do?

Acronis True Image 2020 Standard creates exact images of complete disks and partitions as well as backups of individual files and folders, and restores them after data loss. Backups can be stored on external drives, NAS devices, network shares, or FTP servers, with incremental and differential modes that only save changes after the first full backup. This keeps storage use and backup time low when you protect a system regularly. In practice, it lets you roll a PC back to a working state after a failed update, a defective hard disk, or a malware infection without reinstalling Windows and all applications manually.

Does Acronis True Image 2020 Standard include cloud backup?

No, the Standard edition works with local and network storage only and does not include Acronis Cloud storage. Cloud backup, automatic cloud replication of local backups (Dual Protection), and Office 365 backup are reserved for the Advanced and Premium subscription editions. The upside is that local backups in the Standard edition have no volume limit, so you can protect as much data as your own drives can hold. If off-site cloud copies are a requirement for you, choose Advanced or Premium instead; if you back up to your own external drives or NAS, Standard covers the complete workflow.

How does the Standard edition compare to Advanced and Premium?

The Standard edition is the only one-time purchase in the True Image 2020 family, while Advanced and Premium are annual subscriptions with cloud features. Advanced adds 250 GB of Acronis Cloud storage, cloud replication, and Office 365 backup; Premium raises cloud storage to 1 TB and adds blockchain-based file notarization (Acronis Notary) and electronic signatures (ASign). All three editions share the same local backup, cloning, recovery, and anti-ransomware core.

How does recovery work if Windows no longer starts?

The Acronis Survival Kit turns one external drive into a combined bootable rescue medium and backup container, created in a few clicks from within the program. If the computer no longer boots after a disk failure or a damaged Windows installation, you start the machine directly from this drive and restore the saved system image. This removes the most common recovery problem: a backup that exists but cannot be reached because the operating system is gone. Universal Restore additionally lets you recover a system image to a replacement computer with different hardware, which is useful when the original machine cannot be repaired.

Data loss is expensive: How backups help you avoid outages
For more background on backup planning, read our guide

Can Acronis True Image 2020 Standard clone a disk or migrate to an SSD?

Yes, the Standard edition includes disk cloning, and on Windows it can clone an active system disk while Windows keeps running, without a restart into a recovery environment. This makes the typical upgrade from an old hard disk to a larger drive or a faster SSD a single, direct operation: connect the new drive, clone, swap, and boot. The clone contains the operating system, programs, settings, and data, so nothing has to be reinstalled. For Mac users, True Image 2020 also added active cloning of a running macOS system.

Who is Acronis True Image 2020 Standard best suited for?

The Standard edition fits home users who back up to their own external drives or NAS and want to avoid an ongoing subscription for that. Because local backup volume is unlimited, it works well for people with large photo, video, or project archives that would be expensive to keep in capped cloud plans. It also suits anyone who maintains family PCs and needs a dependable way to return a machine to a known-good state after failed updates or infections, using the Survival Kit instead of a full Windows reinstall. Users who require off-site cloud copies or Office 365 mailbox backup should look at the Advanced edition instead.

What should users check before choosing the Standard edition?

Check that local or network storage is sufficient for your backup plan, because this edition has no Acronis Cloud storage and no automatic cloud replication. Confirm that you are protecting personal computers: True Image is Acronis' home product line, and commercial deployments or Windows Server machines are covered by Acronis' separate business backup products, not by this license. Also plan for a spare external drive if you want to use the Survival Kit, since the bootable rescue medium works best on a dedicated disk. If those points fit your setup, the Standard edition delivers the full local backup, cloning, and recovery feature set in the 2020 family.

Frequently asked questions about Acronis True Image 2020 Standard

Does Acronis True Image 2020 Standard work on a Mac?

Yes, the Standard edition is available for both Windows and macOS. The 2020 release added active cloning of a running Mac system and the option to restrict backups to selected Wi-Fi networks.

Can I back up my smartphone with the Standard edition?

Yes, the Acronis Mobile app backs up iOS and Android devices to your local computer or NAS, since the Standard edition has no cloud target. It also supports moving data between Android and iOS devices, which helps when switching phone platforms.

Does it support incremental and differential backups?

Yes, after the first full image you can run incremental or differential backups that store only changed data. This shortens daily backup runs considerably and keeps backup archives smaller on external drives or NAS storage.

What is the Try & Decide feature?

Try & Decide creates a temporary safe mode in which you can install software or open questionable files and then discard all changes if something goes wrong. It is a practical way to test unknown downloads without risking the working system.