Safeguarding your personal files on Windows 11 is crucial as they contain irreplaceable information like documents, photos, videos, and more. While cloud services like OneDrive offer backup solutions, their limited free storage can be a constraint. Fortunately, Windows 11 provides a built-in tool called File History, enabling you to automatically back up your important files offline to an external drive.

File History continuously protects your personal files by backing them up regularly. This means that if you ever encounter system issues or accidentally delete a file, you can easily restore it. Moreover, you have control over how frequently backups occur and how long they are retained. Below is a detailed guide on how to set up and use File History on Windows 11.

Enable File History

Activating File History on Windows 11 is straightforward. Follow the steps below to enable this feature:

Step 1: Open the Start menu, type file history in the search bar, and select the top result. Alternatively, navigate to Control Panel > System and Security > File History.

Step 2: In the File History window, you'll see that Windows has scanned for compatible drives connected to your computer and may have automatically selected one as the File History drive (if available).

Step 3: To activate File History, click on 'Turn on'.

If the default drive isn't to your preference or if no drive has been selected, you can choose a different one.

Step 4: Click on 'Select drive' from the left-hand menu.

Step 5: In the 'Select a File History drive' window, choose the external drive you wish to use for backups and click 'OK'.

If prompted with 'Do you want to move your existing files?', you can select 'Yes' to transfer any previously backed-up files to the new drive, or 'No' to start fresh.

Note: If you prefer to back up your files to a network location, click on 'Add network location' and select the desired network folder.

Once you've selected a drive, File History will commence backing up your files automatically to a folder named 'FileHistory' on that drive.

By default, File History backs up your files every hour. If you wish to initiate a backup immediately, simply click 'Run now'.

Add Folders to File History

While File History automatically backs up essential folders like Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop, you might have other folders you'd like to include.

Step 1: Navigate to the folder you wish to add, right-click on it, and select 'Show more options' to access the classic context menu.

Step 2: Hover over 'Include in library' and choose the library (e.g., Documents, Music) where you want to include the folder. By adding the folder to a library, it will be automatically included in the backups.

Exclude Folders from File History

File History includes several default folders in its backups. If there are specific folders within these libraries that you don't want to back up, you can exclude them manually.

Step 1: In the File History window, click on 'Exclude folders' from the left-hand menu.

Step 2: Click the 'Add' button at the bottom left corner of the window.

Step 3: Locate and select the folder you wish to exclude, then click 'Select Folder'.

Repeat this process for any additional folders you want to exclude.

Step 4: To remove a folder from the exclusion list, select it and click 'Remove'. Once done, click 'Save changes' to confirm.

Change Backup Frequency

File History allows you to customize how often backups occur and how long versions are kept. Here's how to adjust these settings:

Step 1: In the File History window, select 'Advanced settings' from the left sidebar.

Step 2: Under the 'Versions' section, use the 'Save copies of files' dropdown menu to select how frequently you want backups to occur (ranging from every 10 minutes to once daily).

Step 3: Use the 'Keep saved versions' dropdown to specify how long you want to retain the backup versions (options range from 'Until space is needed' to 'Forever').

Step 4: To delete older versions and free up space, click on 'Clean up versions' below the dropdown menus.

Step 5: Choose a time period for which you want to remove older versions of files (e.g., older than 1 month) and then click 'Clean up'.

Step 6: After configuring your settings, click 'Save changes' at the bottom to apply them.

Restore Files Using File History on Windows 11

If you need to recover lost or corrupted files, you can easily restore them from your File History backups.

Step 1: Open the File History control panel and select 'Restore personal files' from the left-hand menu. Alternatively, you can search for Restore your files in the Windows Search and select 'Restore your files with File History'.

Step 2: Browse through the backed-up folders and files. You can navigate between different backup dates using the forward and backward arrows at the bottom. Each backup version displays the date and time it was saved.

Step 3: Select the files or folders you want to restore and click the green 'Restore' button at the bottom.

If the original file still exists in the location, you'll be prompted to replace it, skip the file, or compare both versions. Choose the option that best suits your needs. If the original file is missing, File History will restore the backup file to its original location automatically.

While services like OneDrive offer file synchronization, using File History provides an additional layer of protection by keeping offline backups of your files. It's one of several ways to secure your data on Windows 11. You might also consider other backup methods, such as creating a complete system image backup or setting up a system restore point to restore your computer to a previous state if needed.

By regularly backing up your files with File History, you can ensure that your important data is protected against accidental deletions, file corruption, or hardware failures.