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How to create automatic file backup on Windows 11

Posted on by paul lubold

Here are three excellent ways to back up your files automatically on Windows 11 without third-party software or services.

Key Points

  • To create an automatic file backup on Windows 11, open Control Panel > System and Security > File History, and click “Turn on.”
  • To back up files automatically from Windows Backup, open Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7), click “Set up backup,” choose the backup location, then “Let me choose” and select the files back up with the tool, confirm the schedule and save the settings.
  • Alternatively, you can do automatic file backups with OneDrive, open Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup, click “Manage sync settings,” choose the files to upload and backup in OneDrive, and click “Start backup.”

On Windows 11, you can create file backups automatically of your documents and files using OneDrive, File History, and Windows Backup to protect the data against accidental deletion, hardware failure, or corruption, and in this guide, you will learn how.

“File History” is a feature designed to create incremental backups of files to an external or network-shared drive during the day to prevent data loss. This option is better suited for those users with a large amount of data, such as video, music, software collections, and project files. The only problem with this solution is that since these are local backups, data won’t be protected from natural disasters. Also, the external drive must always be connected to your computer. Otherwise, backups won’t work.

“Windows Backup” is another option that allows you to back up your files to a removable drive or network folder. The feature works similarly to File History, with the difference that Windows Backup also lets you create a backup of the system files. Also, you can only schedule backups once a day. Since the backups are stored on-site, your files will be protected against accidental deletion, hardware failure, and system corruption, but not from natural disasters. Windows Backup is better suited for long-term archival or creating full backups.

“OneDrive” is the option that Microsoft wants you to use to create a file backup on Windows 11. This is because files are backed up automatically as soon as you sign in and start saving files to the OneDrive folder. The data is stored in the cloud, meaning that they are also protected against natural disasters, and you can access the files across devices. The only problem with this solution is a subscription is required to access the 1TB of storage.

Create file backup on Windows 11 from File History

To back up files automatically with File History on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Start on Windows 11.
  2. Search Control Panel and select the top result to open the app.
  3. Click on System and Security.
  4. Click on File History.

    Open File History

  5. Click the “Turn on” button to enable automatic file backup on Windows 11.

    File History enable option

    Quick tip: Click the “Select drive” option on the left to select a different drive (if applicable).
  6. (Optional) Click the Advanced Settings option from the left pane.
  7. Under the “Advanced settings” section, choose how often File History should create automatic incremental backups of your files using the “Save copies of files” setting.

    File History backup frequency and retention

  8. Choose the backup retention using the “Keep saved versions” setting.
  9. Click the Save changes button.
  10. (Optional) Click the Exclude Folders option from the left pane.
  11. Click the Add button.

    File Explorer exclude locations

  12. Select the folder location to exclude from the backup.
  13. Click the Select Folder button.
  14. Click the Save changes button.

Once you complete the steps, File History will back up your files from Windows 11 to an external storage.

On the “Advanced Settings” page, you will also find the “Event logs” section with an option to open the Event Viewer, where you can check errors and other events generated by File History.

Restore files from File History

To restore files from File History on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Start on Windows 11.
  2. Search Control Panel and select the top result to open the app.
  3. Click on System and Security.
  4. Click on File History.

    Open File History

  5. Click the “Restore personal files” option from the left pane.

    File History enable option

  6. Use the “back” and “forth” buttons to navigate to a point in time to restore your files.
  7. Select the files to restore on Windows 11.
  8. Click the “Restore” (green) button to recover the files to their default location.

    File History restore

    Quick tip: You can also click the gear button in the top-right corner and use the Restore to option to restore files to an alternate location.

After completing the steps, the files will be restored to the specified location.

Create file backup on Windows 11 from Windows Backup

It’s also possible to use the Windows Backup feature to create automatic incremental backups of your documents, pictures, videos, and other files.

To create automatic file backups from Windows Backup, use these steps:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Click on System and Security.
  3. Click on Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

    Backup and restore option

  4. Under the “Back up or restore your files” section, click the “Set up backup” option.

    Set up backup

  5. Select where you want to save the backup – for example, USB external storage or a secondary drive.

    Windows Backup select file backup location

    Quick tip: You can also use the “Save on a network” button to select a shared folder in the network to upload the backup to your local Network Attached Storage (NAS).
  6. Click the Next button.
  7. Select the “Let me choose” option.

    Windows Backup custom selection

  8. Click the Next button.
  9. Clear all the default selections.
  10. Under the “Computer” section, select the folders and locations with files you want to include the backup – for example, “Desktop,” “Documents,” “Pictures,” “Videos,” and “Downloads” folders, and secondary drives with data.

    Windows Backup file selection

  11. (Optional) Clear the “Include a system image of drives” option since you set up a file backup.
  12. Click the Next button.
  13. Click the Change schedule button.

    Windows Backup schedule option

  14. Check the “Run backup on a schedule” option.
  15. Select the Daily option from the “How often” drop-down menu.
  16. Select when you want to run backups (for example, 7:00 PM) from the “What time” drop-down menu.

    Schedule file backup

  17. Click the OK button.
  18. Click the “Save settings and run backup” button.

Once you complete the steps, the backup process will begin for the first time, and then follow-up backups will be performed on schedule.

Restore files with Windows Backup

To restore files from Windows Backup, use these steps:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Click on System and Security.
  3. Click on Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

    Backup and restore option

  4. Under the “Back up or restore your files” section, click the “Restore my files backup” option.

    Windows Backup restore files option

  5. (Optional) Click the “Choose a different date” option to restore the previous version of the file.
  6. Click the “Browse for files” or “Browse for folders” button to restore a file or folder.

    Select files to recover

  7. Select the file or folder depending on the data you want to restore.
  8. Click the Add files or Add folder button.
  9. Click the Next button.
  10. (Optional) Select the “In the following location” option.
  11. Click the Browse button.
  12. Select the new location to restore the files and folders.
  13. Check the “Restore the files to their original subfolders” option.
  14. Click the Restore button.
  15. Click the Finish button.

Once you complete the steps, the files and folders will be restored to your specified location.

If you use an external drive, keep it connected to the computer. Otherwise, the file backup will fail, and if something happens, you may not be able to recover your files.

Create file backup on Windows 11 from OneDrive

To create file backups automatically to OneDrive on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Accounts.
  3. Click the Windows backup tab.
  4. Click the “Manage sync settings” button in the “OneDrive folder syncing” setting.

    OneDrive manage sync settings

  5. Turn on the toggle switch for files to back up in the cloud, including “Desktop,” “Documents,” “Pictures,” “Music,” and “Videos.”

    OneDrive automatic file backup

  6. Click the Start backup button.

Once you complete the steps, the account folders will back up automatically to OneDrive as new changes are made on Windows 11.

If you have more than 5GB worth of files, you will have to acquire a Microsoft 365 subscription to access the full 1TB of storage. In addition to the OneDrive storage, the subscription also includes access to the suite of Office apps and many other benefits.

Recover files from OneDrive

As files upload to your cloud storage account, if anything happens to the computer or data, you can restore the files from OneDrive on the web or from another installation of Windows 11. If you accidentally delete a file, it will continue to be recoverable for 30 days from the OneDrive recycle bin.

To restore a file with OneDrive, use these steps:

  1. Open OneDrive (web).
  2. Sign in with your credentials (if applicable).
  3. Click on Recycle bin from the left pane.
  4. Select the file or folder.

    OneDrive file restore

  5. Click the Restore button.

Once you complete the steps, the file will download again on your computer running Windows 11.

Pureinfotech.

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