So, for example, if there’s a subfolder in one of the folders being backed up that you don’t want to back up, you can exclude that subfolder. You can also specifically exclude folders. Repeat for each folder you want to remove. Under Back up these folders, select a folder you don’t want to back up and click Remove. So before you begin the backup process, you can remove folders you don’t want to back up. Select options from the Back up my files and Keep my backups drop-down lists.įile History automatically adds certain folders to the backup. The Backup options screen allows you to set how often File History backs up your files and how long versions are saved. To configure File History, click More options on the Backup screen. Once you select a drive, Windows automatically turns on File History. Then, click Add a drive on the right.Ī list of available drives displays on the left.

Then, open PC Settings from the Start menu and click Update & Security. Turn On File Historyįile History is turned off by default. File History will automatically back up Favorites, Contacts, Desktop items, and more.Īll this data can add up in a hurry, but you can configure File History to exclude certain folders and how often it saves copies of files. You can set it up to use a network location, too. To use it, you’ll need an external hard drive or a large-capacity USB flash drive. It’s essentially like Apple’s Time Machine but for Windows. It allows you to recover files you might have accidentally deleted or restore a modified document to an earlier version. File History is a built-in tool that was first introduced in Windows 8.

Backup vs file history