Maintenance procedure · Written to ASD-STE100 Issue 9 · Formatted to ANSI Z535

Set Up an Automatic Backup on Windows with File History

Windows 11 and Windows 10 — back your own files up to an external drive, confirm what is actually included, and get one file back before you trust it
ApplicabilityWindows 11 and Windows 10, with an external drive or a network location available for the backup. Checked against Microsoft's consumer support documentation on 2026-07-29, when the current Windows 11 versions were 26H1 (availability 2026-02-10, latest build 28000.2525, revised 2026-07-14) and 25H2 (availability 2025-09-30), and Windows 10 version 22H2 was past its end of support date of 2025-10-14. A PC managed by an employer or a school may have these settings locked. File History did not appear on Microsoft's deprecated features list for Windows client on 2026-07-29; the legacy Backup and Restore (Windows 7) tool, which readers often confuse with it, did.
Task time15 min to 35 min editorial estimate, not a measurement
PersonnelOne
Revisionv1 · 2026-07-29
BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Before you begin. This procedure is general reference information, not professional advice. Equipment varies by manufacturer, model, and year. Always follow the documentation supplied with your equipment — where it differs from this page, follow the manufacturer. Verify that you have the tools, the working conditions, and the ability to do this task safely. If anything is unclear, if the equipment is damaged, or if the task exceeds your experience, stop and use a qualified professional. You are responsible for your own safety and for the outcome. This site accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury arising from the use of this information.

Specifications marked unverified could not be traced to a manufacturer source. Do not rely on them — obtain the value from your equipment documentation.

Summary

File History is the backup that comes with Windows and copies your own files — documents, pictures, videos, music — to an external drive on a schedule, keeping older versions so you can go back to the file as it was last Tuesday. It is not the only backup Microsoft ships, and the difference matters: Windows Backup, the newer app, syncs your folders to OneDrive and your settings to your Microsoft account, which is a different thing solving a different problem. This page does the local-drive one.

It follows Microsoft's own consumer documentation as it stood on 29 July 2026, for Windows 11 and Windows 10, and it stays in the Control Panel and File Explorer because that is where Microsoft's instructions live. Three things it is careful about. File History copies your libraries, not your whole disk, so it will not rebuild a broken Windows. Microsoft's own page names the default folders twice and the two lists do not quite match, so this page sends you to read the list on your own PC rather than repeating either one. And restoring a file replaces the current one in a way Microsoft says cannot be undone, so the last section shows you the route that does not overwrite anything.

Safety

NOTICE

READ THE WINDOWS VERSION ON YOUR PC FIRST.
Menu names change with a Windows update. This page follows the Microsoft documentation for Windows 11 and Windows 10.

NOTICE

FILE HISTORY COPIES YOUR OWN FILES ONLY.
It does not copy Windows and it does not copy your installed apps. A damaged Windows needs a new installation, and File History cannot do that.

Necessary equipment

ItemNote
Windows PCSign in to the PC with your own account.
External driveKeep this drive connected to the PC after the setup.
Pen and paperMake a record of the Windows version and the drive letter.

Find the Windows version

Estimated 2 min

NOTEMenu names can move with a Windows update. Microsoft gives the File History route in the Control Panel, not in the Settings app.
Windows releases that Microsoft documents File History for
Manufacturer or standard verified
Windows 11 and Windows 10

Source: Backup and restore with File History · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29

Status of the legacy Backup and Restore (Windows 7) tool
Manufacturer or standard verified
Deprecated. Microsoft gives a third-party product for a full-disk backup.

Source: Deprecated features for Windows client · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29

  1. Open the Settings app on your PC.
    <1m
  2. Select System.
    <1m
  3. Select About.
    <1m
  4. Read the edition, the version and the OS build.
    • The version is a short code such as 25H2 or 22H2.
    <1m
  5. Make a record of the version and the OS build on paper.
    • Give these two values to each person who helps you with this PC.
    <1m

Prepare the external drive

Estimated 2 min

NOTEFile History makes no backup without the drive. A drive that stays connected is better than a larger drive in a drawer.
Smallest drive that File History needs
Unverified — do not rely on this value
CONSULT THE DRIVE MANUFACTURER. THE MICROSOFT DOCUMENTATION GIVES NO MINIMUM SIZE.

No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.

NOTICE

KEEP THE EXTERNAL DRIVE CONNECTED TO THE PC.
File History makes no backup without the drive. Select a drive that can stay connected.

  1. Connect an external drive to a USB port on the PC.
    • Microsoft gives a network location as an alternative to an external drive.
    <1m
  2. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
    <1m
  3. Select This PC in the list at the left.
    <1m
  4. Read the letter and the free space of the external drive.
    • The Microsoft documentation gives no minimum size for this drive.
    • A larger drive holds more of the older versions of your files.
    <1m
  5. Make a record of that drive letter on paper.
    <1m

Start File History

Estimated 3 min to 7 min

  1. Open the Control Panel on the PC.
    • Type control panel in the search box on the taskbar.
    • Then select Control Panel in the results.
    <1m
  2. Select System and Security.
    <1m
  3. Select the File History entry in that group.
    • Microsoft gives the full name of this entry as: Save backup copies of your files with File History.
    <1m
  4. If the window shows no drive, select the Select drive option.
    • Windows selects a connected drive automatically in many cases.
    <1m
  5. Select your external drive in the list of drives.
    • Compare the drive letter with your record from the last section.
    <1m
  6. Select OK.
    • If Windows asks about the backup files from before, make your decision.
    • Windows can move those files to the new drive.
    • Windows can also start a new backup and leave the old files.
    <1m

Examine the list of folders

Estimated 3 min to 8 min

NOTEFile History copies your libraries. It does not copy Windows, and it does not copy your installed apps.
Folders that File History copies
Unverified — do not rely on this value
READ THE LIST IN THE FILE HISTORY WINDOW ON YOUR OWN PC

No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.

NOTICE

READ THE LIST OF FOLDERS IN THE FILE HISTORY WINDOW.
The Microsoft documentation gives two different lists of the default folders. Only the list on your own PC is correct for your PC.

  1. Read the list of folders in the File History window.
    • File History copies the libraries of your account.
    • The Microsoft documentation gives two different lists of the default folders.
    • Only the list on your own PC is correct for your PC.
    2m
  2. Make a record of the folders that are absent from that list.
    1m
  3. Select the button that starts a backup immediately.
    • The first backup copies all the files and takes the most time.
    • You can use the PC at the same time.
    <1m

Add a folder to the backup

Estimated 2 min to 8 min

  1. In File Explorer, find a folder from your record at step s18.
    <1m
  2. Right-click that folder.
    <1m
  3. Select Show more options.
    • Windows 10 gives the full menu without this step.
    <1m
  4. Select Include in library.
    <1m
  5. Select a library for that folder.
    • File History then copies that folder with the library.
    • Do this again for each folder from your record.
    <1m

Restore one file from the backup

Estimated 4 min to 8 min

NOTEA backup that gave no file back is not a backup. Do this section one time, before you rely on the backup.
Reversal of a File History restore
Manufacturer or standard verified
None. The restored file replaces the current file, and Microsoft gives no method to undo the replacement.

Source: Backup and restore with File History · tier 1 · accessed 2026-07-29

  1. In File Explorer, find the folder that held a file in the backup.
    • The Documents folder is a satisfactory example.
    <1m
NOTICE

A RESTORE REPLACES THE CURRENT FILE ON YOUR PC.
Microsoft gives no method to reverse that replacement. To keep the current file, use the alternative location in the last two steps.

  1. Right-click the name of that folder.
    • For a folder at the top of a drive, right-click the drive.
    <1m
  2. Select Restore previous versions.
    <1m
  3. Read the list on the Previous Versions tab.
    • The list gives each available version of the folder.
    <1m
  4. Select a version from a date before the loss of the file.
    • For a file that you lost today, select a version from yesterday.
    <1m
  5. To examine that version, expand Open.
    • Then select Open in File History.
    <1m
  6. To keep the current file, expand the Restore control.
    • Then select the option for a different location.
    • Microsoft gives the name of that option as: Restore to.
    <1m
  7. Select a different folder for the restored file.
    • Then compare the restored file with the current file.
    • If the file comes back, the backup is good.
    1m

Terminology

This page uses one term for each item and holds it throughout, as ASD-STE100 requires. Equipment sellers and other guides use the names below for the same parts.

File History
Also called: file history, windows backup to external drive, windows automatic backup, backup my files windows, previous versions
library
Also called: libraries, documents library, pictures library, windows library, my documents
external drive
Also called: external hard drive, usb drive, backup drive, portable hard drive, flash drive, thumb drive
Restore previous versions
Also called: previous versions, restore an old version, get an earlier version of a file, undo changes to a file, recover overwritten file
Windows Backup app
Also called: windows backup, onedrive backup, backup to microsoft account, back up my pc, pc backup app
Backup and Restore (Windows 7)
Also called: backup and restore, system image backup, windows 7 backup, full disk backup windows, clone my hard drive

When to use a professional

Stop if an employer or a school controls your PC. A policy on a controlled PC can lock File History or can forbid a backup to a removable drive. Speak to your IT administrator.

Stop if your PC cannot find the external drive after the setup. Do not repeat the setup. Speak to Microsoft Support or to the drive manufacturer. Give them the Windows version and the OS build from the first section.

Stop if you must recover a Windows installation, and not only your files. File History does not copy Windows. Microsoft documents a different method for that, and it needs a different tool.

Stop if the file that you want is absent from each version in the list. An absent file can mean that its folder was outside the backup. Read the list of folders again.

This page does not give the steps for a backup to OneDrive with the Windows Backup app. That is a different Microsoft product with a different result, and it needs a personal Microsoft account.

Common questions

What's the difference between File History and Windows Backup?

They solve different problems and Windows ships both. File History copies your own files to a drive you own, keeps older versions of them, and works offline — that is what this page sets up. Windows Backup is the newer app: it syncs your chosen folders to OneDrive and stores your settings, themes, installed-app list and Wi-Fi information against your Microsoft account, so a new PC can be set up by signing in. Microsoft is explicit that Windows Backup is focused on consumer devices signed in with a personal Microsoft account, and that work or school accounts will not work with it. So if you want your files on a drive in your house, you want File History; if you want a smooth move to your next PC, you want Windows Backup. Wanting both is reasonable.

Which folders does File History actually back up?

Read the list in the File History window on your own PC, and here is the honest reason why. Microsoft's own article names the default set twice and the two lists differ: the opening description says default libraries like Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music, and the configuration section says essential folders like Documents, Pictures, Videos and Desktop. Both use the word 'like', so neither is presented as exhaustive. We are not going to pick one and print it as fact, and we are not going to average them. The window on your machine is the authority, it takes ten seconds to read, and anything missing from it can be added by putting the folder into a library.

Can File History restore my whole PC if Windows won't start?

No, and this is the most important limit to understand before you rely on it. File History backs up your personal files and folders — it does not copy Windows itself and it does not copy your installed applications. If the operating system is damaged you would reinstall Windows and then bring your files back, not restore the machine from File History in one move. If a full-disk image is what you actually want, note that Microsoft deprecated its own System Image Backup — the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) control panel — back at Windows 10 version 1709, and its published guidance is to look for a third-party product from another software publisher.

Is File History being removed from Windows?

Not according to Microsoft, as of 29 July 2026. We checked its deprecated features list for Windows client on that date and File History does not appear on it. The feature people often confuse with it does: System Image Backup, also known as the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) legacy control panel, has been on the deprecated list since Windows 10 version 1709. This is a negative finding rather than a promise, so it is the kind of thing worth re-checking rather than assuming — a feature can be added to that list at any time, and this page carries a review date for exactly that reason.

Does the external drive have to stay plugged in?

In practice, yes. File History backs up on a schedule, and a schedule cannot run against a drive that is not there — a drive you plug in occasionally gives you a backup that is as old as the last time you remembered. If you would rather not leave a drive attached to a laptop, Microsoft also supports a network location as the File History destination, which gets you the same automatic behaviour without a dangling cable. Whichever you choose, the useful habit is the same: check now and then that File History is still on and still pointing at the drive you think it is.

Will restoring a file overwrite the one I have now?

Yes, by default, and Microsoft's own warning on this is blunt: the file or folder replaces the current version on your computer, and the replacement can't be undone. That is why the last two steps here take the other route. Instead of clicking Restore, expand it and choose Restore to, then pick a different folder — you get the old version alongside the current one and you can compare them before deciding. It costs one extra click and it removes the only genuinely irreversible action in this whole procedure.

How big should my backup drive be?

Microsoft does not publish a minimum, and we are not going to invent one. What determines the answer is not just how much data you have but how much history you want to keep, because File History stores older versions of files as well as current ones and the drive fills up with those over time. A drive smaller than the data you are backing up obviously cannot work; beyond that, more space buys you more history rather than more safety. If a specific drive is what you are after, that question belongs to the drive manufacturer and to how much you are actually storing, not to a number on a page that has never seen your PC.

Why is this in Control Panel and not in Settings?

Because that is where Microsoft's own instructions send you. Its current consumer article for File History gives the route as Control Panel, then System and Security, then the File History entry, and this page follows it rather than guessing at a Settings equivalent. Plenty of Windows features now live in both places with slightly different options, and following the documented route is what makes a step checkable against a source. If your Control Panel looks different from the description, read your Windows version and build first — that is the first section here for exactly this reason.

Sources

Every specification on this page is traced to one of these sources. Tier 1 is a manufacturer document, a published standard, or a government safety authority. See Standards for the full tiering rule.

  1. Tier 1Backup and restore with File HistoryMicrosoft Corporation — Microsoft Support · accessed 2026-07-29 · re-verification due 2027-01-25
  2. Tier 1Back up and restore with Windows BackupMicrosoft Corporation — Microsoft Support · accessed 2026-07-29 · re-verification due 2027-01-25
  3. Tier 1Deprecated features for Windows clientMicrosoft Corporation — Microsoft Learn · accessed 2026-07-29 · re-verification due 2027-01-25
  4. Tier 1Windows 11 release informationMicrosoft · accessed 2026-07-29 · re-verification due 2027-01-25
  5. Tier 1Windows 10 release informationMicrosoft · accessed 2026-07-29 · re-verification due 2027-01-25

Revision history

Current version 1 · updated 2026-07-29 · next review due 2027-07-29

  1. v1 · 2026-07-29First draft. An earlier session assessed this topic and rejected it on the grounds that Microsoft's File History coverage is Windows 8 era and therefore past the ten-year archaic-source threshold. That holds for the Microsoft Learn material and does not hold for Microsoft's consumer channel: support.microsoft.com carries 'Backup and restore with File History', marked 'Applies To Windows 11, Windows 10' and carrying a maintained note about Windows 10 support ending on 14 October 2025. It was opened by direct HTTPS fetch on 2026-07-29 and the fetched document carried the full procedural body, which is what the earlier assessment could not confirm. Before drafting a page that tells a reader to rely on the feature, Microsoft's 'Deprecated features for Windows client' list was fetched and searched on the same date: File History does not appear on it, and System Image Backup — the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) legacy control panel, which readers routinely confuse with File History — does, deprecated at Windows 10 version 1709. Both findings are recorded on the source entry, and the negative one is flagged there for re-checking at review. One editorial judgement is worth naming: Microsoft's File History page states the default folder set twice and the two lists differ (Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music in one place; Documents, Pictures, Videos, Desktop in the other), both hedged with 'like'. That is looseness inside a single source rather than two sources disagreeing, so it is not recorded as a conflict_note; instead the specification publishes as an instruction to read the list in the File History window, a hazard notice sends the reader there before the folder section, and the FAQ states plainly that Microsoft's page says both. Version binding checked on 2026-07-29 against the Microsoft Learn release-health pages already in data/sources.json. The three verified specifications carry spec_key null: this record was drafted concurrently with others and the drafting session was not permitted to write data/specs.json, so the registry entries must be added when the record is merged. Microsoft's other consumer backup route, the Windows Backup app to OneDrive, is named in the FAQ and the professional boundary and is not instructed here. The procedure was verified against Microsoft's documentation, not executed on a machine, and this record says so rather than claiming a test result.

Corrections to this page are listed in the public corrections log. Reports that are credible and not yet verified are listed in the public errata register, and an open one renders above the step it concerns.

Comments and corrections

Found an error? A correction with a manufacturer source is applied and logged publicly. You can also write to corrections@fixchecklist.com.

Every step above carries its own report control, which tags the report with that step so a correction reaches the right place. For anything about the procedure as a whole — the order of the sections, a step that is missing, something that did not match your equipment — use this: report something about this whole procedure.

The comment system is not connected yet. Comments are stored in GitHub Discussions through Giscus, outside this site, so that a redeploy cannot destroy them.