The new Windows 11 comes with many cool features and a refreshing new graphical interface, including a centered Start menu and taskbar, rounded corner windows, cool themes, and colors that will make any Windows device stand out. One thing you can also do with Windows 11 uses its built-in backup and restore tool to protect your important files. To back up your files in Windows 11 simply means making copies of your files and storing them somewhere for safekeeping. In the event you lose the original files on the computer, you can restore the missing files from the backed-up location. It’s always good to have backup copies of your important files. Keeping copies of your files on another drive in case something happens to the originals — on an external hard disk, for example, is a doo practice. A good location to store your files is on a USB drive, external hard drive, CD/DVD, or online storage. To get started backing up your files in Windows 11, follow the steps below.
How to Back up your Files
The easiest way to back up your files is to let Windows manage the backup process for you. Several different backup applications are available, but Windows 11 comes with a built-in tool that can help you back up your files. Alternatively, you can manually copy the file to a backup location instead of using an application. However, allowing Windows to automatically back up your important files might be your best option.
What to backup
Your priority should be to back up important files as well as those that would be difficult to replace. Your files like documents, emails, financial documents, family photos, and others would be irreplaceable. Other less important data would be your profile settings, installed software, and system settings. There you can replace them, but you’ll have to spend some time setting things back to the way they were.
Backup files to OneDrive online
There are many ways to back up Windows. However, the easiest might be setting up and backing up to OneDrive online storage. OneDrive lets you save your files and photos and access them from any device, anywhere. You will need a Microsoft account to set up OneDrive on your machine. Simply go to the link below to create a Microsoft Account. Sign in – Microsoft OneDrive (live.com) You can signup for free and are given free 5GB storage space. You can always upgrade to larger sizes when you need more storage space. Once you’re signed up and ready, continue below to setting up Windows backup. Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from its System Settings pane. To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below: Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it. Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click System, then select Storage on the right pane of your screen shown in the image below. On the System storage settings page, click on Advanced storage settings. Under Advanced storage settings, select Backup options. On the Backup options settings page, choose the option to Back up files to OneDrive. Then click on the link that reads “Sign in to OneDrive“. You’ll be prompted to enter your OneDrive account email address and password to sign in. After correctly logging into your OneDrive account, you should continue with the setup wizard. When you’re done with the setup wizard, you should see a similar screen below telling you that OneDrive is ready to use and the setup is complete.
Backup Windows 11 to External Drives
You can also back up Windows to external drives and restore them if the original is lost, damaged, or delete. Insert or connect the external drive to your computer. In Windows Settings –> System –> Storage –> Advanced Backup options, select Back up using File History instead of going to OneDrive as mentioned above. Once you click the Add a drive button, you’ll be prompted to select the external drive to back up to. Choose the drive you have connected to Windows. When you select a drive, all is set. Every hour, Windows will back up everything in your user folder (C:\Users\username). To change which files get backed up or how often backups happen, go to More options. More options give let you set up how and when files are backup. When you’re done, save and exit. Conclusion: This post showed you how to backup up Windows 11. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report.
