Easy Steps to Back Up Files in Windows 10

This article describes the steps to back up important files and folders in Windows 10.

Back up your file in Windows 10 means making copies and storing them somewhere for safekeeping. Then, in the event you lose the original file on the computer, you can go to restore the file from the Backup location.

It’s always good to have a backup copy of your important files. Keep copies of your files on another drive if something happens to the originals — on an external hard disk, for example.

Backing up important files in Windows is essential to ensure that you have a secure copy of your files in case anything happens to the original file on your computer. This can happen for various reasons, such as hardware failure, malware attacks, human error, or other unforeseen circumstances.

By backing up your files, you can prevent data loss and restore your files from the backup location if necessary. Keeping a backup copy of your important files in a safe location is always a good practice.

An excellent location to store Backup files is on a USB drive, external hard drive, CD/DVD, or online storage.

How to Back up Your Files

The easiest way to back up your files is to let Windows manage the Backup process. Many different backup applications are available, but Windows 10 has a built-in tool to help you back up your files.

Alternatively, you can manually copy the file to a backup location instead of using an application. However, allowing Windows to back up your important files automatically is the best method.

What to back up?

Your priority should be to back up essential files and those that would be difficult to replace. For example, your files like emails, financial documents, family photos, and others would be irreplaceable.

Other less critical data would be your profile, installed software, and system settings. You can replace it there, but you might spend some time on settings back to how they were.

Windows 10 Backup

Windows 10 comes with a built-in backup tool. Select the Start​  button, Settings  > Update & security  > Backup  > Add a drive, then choose an external or network location for your backups.

Click Start –> Settings

Then go to Settings & Security Group

Select the Backup on the left menu. Windows will not allow you to back up to a folder location on the computer. You must add an external USB / Network drive to the Backup.

Insert a USB drive into your computer; Windows should identify it and allow you to back it up.

Click Add a drive  > Select a drive.

When you select a drive, all is set. Every hour, Windows will back up everything in your user folder (C:\Users\username). To change which files get backed up or how often backups happen, go to More Options.

When you’re done, save and exit.

This is how to set up a backup on Windows 10 computers.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully configured a backup plan on a Windows 10 desktop.