How to Create a System Image Backup on Windows 11

This post shows students and new users how to create a complete system backup in Windows 11. Creating a system image takes a complete backup of everything on your PC’s hard drive, like taking a snapshot of your entire drive, system files, and everything.

Doing a system image backup is useful in cases where you’ll want to restore your complete PC at a point in time when the image was created. Usually, a complete system image is taken once after the PC has been tested and is in full working order.

Taking a complete system backup isn’t the best solution for all situations. For most users, simply backing up important documents should be enough.

If you’re worried about losing important documents that are difficult to replace, then doing a complete system image backup shouldn’t be your backup strategy.

A system image backup is ideal for an important PC with critical applications and complicated setup and settings that are difficult and time-consuming to rebuild. In this case, doing a complete backup of the system and storing it somewhere is the best case.

The backup strategy in this post below should be considered for most users.

How to Backup and Restore in Windows 11 – Website for Students

For complete image backup, continue below:

How to create a complete system backup in Windows 11

Windows 11 comes with a built-in Backup solution that can back up the operating System, applications, and files at a certain point in time and save them to an external hard disk in case of system failure.

As mentioned above, system image backup isn’t ideal for most situations. System images are very large and contain many files you don’t need.

Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings. Everything can be done, from system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows from its System Settings pane.

To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings, as shown in the image below:

Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it.

Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click System, and select Storage on the right pane of your screen shown in the image below.

Select Advanced storage settings under Storage Management on the Storage settings pane to expand more storage options.

Next, select the Backup options

Toggle the button to enable File History backup.

Then click Add a Drive to select the drive to back up the system image. A system image can only be saved on an external drive, CD/DVD, or network location.

Next, click the link to Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Doing that will open another window in Control Panel.

Click on Create a system image.

Next, select the destination to save the system image. For this post, we will be saving on an external hard disk.

Finally, click Start Backup to begin the Backup process.

Wait for the process to complete. Depending on the size of your hard drive, this could take hours.

Once the Backup is complete, remove the drive and store it safely. The image on the drive can be used to restore your PC to the date and time of the creation.

Conclusion:

• Creating a complete system backup in Windows 11 is essential for safeguarding your data and ensuring you can restore your PC effectively.
• A system image backup is beneficial for critical systems containing complex applications and settings.
• Updating your backups to capture recent changes and data regularly is recommended.
• Be aware that a system image backup may consume significant storage space, so evaluate your needs before proceeding.
• Always store your backup drive in a safe location to prevent data loss.
• For everyday users, supplementing a full backup with regular backups of important documents may be sufficient.