How to Back Up Your Files in Windows 10

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: November 15, 2020 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to save a copy of your Windows 10 computer files. You can do this by using Windows 10's File History program and an external hard drive or USB drive.

Steps

1
Attach your external drive to your computer. Plug the USB end of the external hard drive's cable into one of your computer's USB slots.
- If you're using a flash drive, plug it directly into the USB slot.
2
Open the Settings app. Click the Start
button at the bottom-left and select the settings gear
.
- You can also press the ⊞ Win+I keys at the same time.
3
Click
Update & security. It's a symbol of two circling arrows. You'll likely find this near the bottom of the Settings window.
4
Click Backup. This tab is on the left side of the settings app.
5
Click Add a drive. It's a grey button at the top of the Backup page. Doing so will scan your computer for a removable drive—in this case, your external hard drive or flash drive.
6
Select your drive. Click your external drive's name in the Add a Drive drop-down menu. This will set it as your backup drive.
7
Click the "More options" link. It's right below the "Add a drive" section. Doing so will open a page with your backup options.
8
Click Back up now. It's a grey button at the top of the page. This will prompt Windows 10 to begin backing up your files to your attached drive.
- You can see how much space a backup will take next to the "Size of backup" heading near the top of the page. If your drive's free space is less than this number, delete some files from your drive before continuing.
9
Change your backup frequency. Click the drop-down box below the "Back up my files" heading, then select an option in the drop-down menu.
- For the least amount of disturbance, select Daily in the drop-down menu.
10
Change how long the backup stays on your drive. Click the "Keep my backups" drop-down box, then select a timeframe in the drop-down menu.
- You can select Until space is needed to automatically override old backups with new ones.
11
Click
. It's in the top-left corner of the Backup window. Your files will continue to back up to your drive.
- If you ever need to restore a backup, you can begin by opening the "More options" link from the Backup page, scrolling all the way down, and clicking "Restore files from a current backup".

Community Q&A

Question

How can I back up files from an external file to another external file?

L33Tech

Community Answer

You can copy and paste files to multiple locations in Windows 10. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V are helpful keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste.
Question

Will this back up all files on my hard disk (including application files) such that I can fully restore my system if I need to (Mac Time Machine style)?

Community Answer

Yes, it's possible. If you are going to restore your computer, there are some options for backup. Just click on ''Restore/back up'' and choose back up the file, then follow instructions. It will create your backup. You can easily restore your computer and your data will remain saved.
Question

What if there is no "Add a drive" button?

Community Answer

Check very closely, the button is always there. But if it's not there, try restarting it or contacting the developers.
Question

How can I back up a whole drive C to another drive?

Phúc Duy Nguyễn

Community Answer

There are a few ways that you can do this, the method mentioned below uses the native Windows Backup & Restore tool. 1. Go to Control Panel > Backup and Restore, then select [Set up backup]. Enter an administrator password if needed. 2. Then select where you want to save your files. 3. On the next screen, select [Let me choose], then click Next. 4. Select what you want to back up (in this case your C: drive) and click Next. 5. At the final screen, you can review your settings and set a schedule if you want to (click Change Schedule). Once you have confirmed your choices, click [Save settings and run backup].
Question

My computer keeps going into sleep mode during back up and then the backup stops working. I have to click on the screen to keep it awake this takes 3 or 4 hours. Any advice?

Tudor Gavriluta

Community Answer

Open Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options > Choose when the computer sleeps and choose Never for Battery / Plugged In, depending on when you are backing up. If you upload files while your PC is plugged in, select Never on the “Plugged In” or “Power” section. If you back up files on battery power instead, choose Never on the “Battery” or “Battery Power” section.
Question

How do I back my computer data to the cloud, e.g. Google One?

Tudor Gavriluta

Community Answer

Use their specific application or Web Interface to upload files to the Cloud. For Google Drive, visit drive.google.com.

Warnings

Do not unplug your external drive or turn off the computer while backing up—you'll lose your backup progress and there's a high chance of corrupting the data on the external drive.

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Backups generally take up a lot of space, especially if you don't delete old backups.

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