[Step by Step] How to Backup with Windows 11 File History

Windows 11 File History is a built-in Windows backup tool that will regularly backup your files in Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders, as well as OneDrive files on your computer that are available offline. In this article, we'll show you how to set up File History on Windows 11 to automatically back up your files.

How to Backup Files in Windows 11 with File History 

By default, Windows 11 File History is disabled, to backup and restore files with it, you need to enable it first. And you have 3 ways in the following.

Way 1: Backup files with File History through the Control Panel

1. Type File History in the Windows 11 search box and select it. It will open the Control Panel and direct you to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items (change View by option to Larger icon) > File History.

2. Then, click Select Drive to select an external drive or network location.  

3. Then, click Exclude folders to add folders that you don’t want to back up.

3. Afterward, click the Turn on button to backup files automatically with Windows 11 File History. 

Way 2: Backup files with File History using Edit Group Policy

Step 1. Click on the Start menu, then search for and open the Edit group policy. 

Step 2. Navigate to the following path, double-click the Turn off File History settings, tick the Disabled box, and click Apply to enable File History in Windows 11.

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File History.

Similarly, to disable File History in Windows 11, tick the Enabled box and click Apply. 

Way 3: Backup files with File File History using Registry Editor

Step 1. Press Win+R to open the Run window and type regedit to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following path. Then, right-click the Windows key, select New > Key and name it as File History.

 Computer/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Step 3.  In the right pane, right-click the blank space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it Disabled.

Step 5. Double-click the new Disabled DWORD, set the value data to 0, and click OK to enable File History in Windows 11.

That's all the methods to backup files with File History in Windows 11. And the default schedule setting is hourly and the retention policy is forever.  Given this, this software will not delete file history backup regularly, so the backup disk will be fulfilled sooner or later. This problem will be accelerated if you have a large amount of files in the user account.

To prevent this potential backup issue at the beginning, it's suggested to change backup settings, for example, save copies of files daily and keep backup versions until space is needed. 

Notes:✎...

However, after upgrading to Windows 11, many users report Windows 11 file history missing, this is because Microsoft made some changes in the new system. In such a situation, you need a Windows 11 File History alternative.

The Best Alternative for Windows 11 File History

Although you can alleviate the backup disk full issue by changing settings in File History, it is not effective due to the limited schedule settings and the large number of files you want to back up. This issue is even worse because it does not compress the backup image. In this case, you need the best alternative for Windows 11 File History - AOMEI Backupper Standard. 

It provides you with a more flexible backup frequency, for example, weekly backup. And it helps you minimize disk space usage with multiple features by default. 

AOMEI Backupper

Best Free File History Alternative

• It supports backing up specific files with different frequencies, such as daily, weekly, and monthly schedule backups.

• You can further set backup date, time, and interval. It is usually used with incremental backup, which backs up only changed files in a scheduled task.

• It is capable of compressing (normal or high compression) or splitting backup images into smaller ones automatically.

• It allows you to backup files to multiple storage devices, such as local drive, external drive, USB, HDD, SSD, etc. If you have an AOMEI account, you can backup files to AOMEI Cloud.

Download Freeware Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

100% Secure

Please download it to have a try! For server users, try the AOMEI Backupper Server.

 (PS: The advanced edition will be a better choice if you want to resolve the backup disk full issue completely. Its automatic backup cleanup allows you to delete old backup images regularly.)

How to Backup with AOMEI Backupper

Step 1. Open AOMEI Backupper Standard,and  click Backup > File Backup.

Step 2. Click Add File or Add Folder, then select the files or folders you want to backup, even if it's outside the user account.

Step 3. Choose a destination path for your backup. You can choose to backup files to an external hard drive, network location or NAS, cloud drive, etc.

Step 4. Click Schedule Backup to set daily, weekly, or monthly backup for your files. To avoid the backup disk full issue at the beginning, you still need to set the compression level (normal or high), splitting, incremental backup, etc.

Step 5. Confirm all your operations and then click Start Backup.

Add Folders to Windows 11 File History

By default, File History backs up only certain user folders. However, if you need to include additional folders in the backup, you can manually add them. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you do just that in Windows 11.

Step 1: Open File Explorer

Press Win + E to open File Explorer. Navigate to the folder you want to add to File History. 

Step 2: Access the Context Menu

Right-click on the folder you wish to add and select Show More options from the context menu. Then, click on Include in Library.

Step 3: Choose a Library Folder

You’ll be prompted to choose a library. Select a folder from the available options, such as Documents. For this demonstration, we’re selecting the Documents folder.

Step 4: Confirm the Folder is Added

After selecting a library, the Test folder will now appear within the chosen library. To confirm, go to Libraries in the Navigation pane and click on the Documents folder.

Step 5: Run a Backup

Next, open the Control Panel, navigate to File History, and click Run Now to initiate a new backup. This will ensure the newly added folder is included in the backup.

Step 6: Verify the Backup

Finally, open File Explorer again and go to your USB drive or backup location. Inside the Data folder, you should now see the folder you added to the library.

Once you’ve completed these steps, File History will back up the contents of the folder you added, ensuring it’s included in future backups.

Bonus Tip: Windows 10 vs Windows 11 File History

Here are two key differences between Windows 10 and Windows 11 File History, you should have a brief learning in case someday you upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10.

#1: File History is no longer in Backup Settings Settings. This is the most obvious difference hidden in the Settings option. You can go to Settings -> System -> Storage -> Advanced Storage options > Backup options, then scroll down to Looking for an older backup and select Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7). You can still access it via the Control Panel.

#2: File History add folder option is removed in Windows 11. This is another big change in Windows 11 File History and now you can only backup files in the user account folder or files in the subfolder.

Summary

This article shows you a stepwise guide to backup files in Windows 11 by File History. You can choose to enable File History with 3 given methods, but it easily results in the backup disk full issue due to the limited backup settings and the large amount of files you want to backup. It removes the Add Folder option in Windows 11, thus you cannot backup files outside the user folder.

Thus, it's suggested to use the Windows 11 file history alternative - AOMEI Backupper Standard. It supports flexible backup options (daily, weekly, monthly) and helps you minimize disk space usage with different angles, such as compressing backup images, backup only changed files, directly deleting backup files, etc. All in all, it's worth trying backup software!