How to back up a Windows PC (three ways)

A backup is a second copy of your files, kept somewhere other than your computer. Pick the way that suits you, or better, two of them.

Steps

1. Decide what matters. Usually that is your Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders, plus Videos and Music if you keep them.
2. Choose a cloud backup, a drive backup, or both. The three ways are described below.
3. Set it up once and let it run. Windows Backup and File History both keep working in the background after you turn them on.
4. Test it. Restore one file to prove the backup works.

Way 1: Windows Backup (to the cloud)

Windows Backup saves the folders you choose to OneDrive, the storage that comes with a Microsoft account. A free Microsoft account includes 5 GB; more can be bought. It works with personal Microsoft accounts, not work or school accounts.

1. Sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account: in Settings > Accounts > Your info, look for Sign in with a Microsoft account instead. If you don't see it, you are already signed in with one.
2. Select Start, type backup and open Windows Backup.
3. Expand Folders and switch on the folders you want backed up: Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music.
4. Expand the other sections if you also want your apps list, settings and Wi-Fi passwords remembered.
5. Select Back up.

To check on it later, open Windows Backup again, or go to Settings > Accounts > Windows backup.

Way 2: File History (to an external drive)

File History keeps copies of the files in your libraries (Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music) and on your Desktop on an external drive, and keeps older versions too.

1. Connect an external drive.
2. Open Control Panel. Under System and Security, select Save backup copies of your files with File History.
3. Select Turn on. If the wrong drive is shown, choose Select drive and pick the right one.

To get a file back, open File Explorer and go to the folder that held it. Right-click the folder, select Restore previous versions, choose a version from before the file was lost and select Restore. Restoring replaces the current version and can't be undone, so use Restore to… if you want to put the old copy somewhere else.

Way 3: Copy to a USB drive by hand

The simplest backup of all, and the one Microsoft suggests before risky repairs: insert a USB drive and use File Explorer to drag and copy your important files onto it. It only protects what you copied on the day you copied it, so repeat it regularly.

If that didn't work

If Windows Backup shows an OneDrive error, you may not be signed in to OneDrive or may be out of storage. If File History shows no drive, choose Select drive and pick your external drive.

Which should you use?

A cloud copy is safe from things that happen at home, such as a fire, a theft or a failed computer. A copy on a drive you unplug and put away is under your own control and can't be reached from the internet. Our guide to the 3-2-1 backup rule explains why both together are safer.