Back Up Your Windows PC: OneDrive Folder Backup and an External Drive

Laptops get stolen, drives fail and ransomware encrypts files. Two backup layers protect almost everything you care about.

Layer 1: OneDrive folder backup

1. Open the Windows Backup app (Windows 11) or OneDrive settings → Sync and back up → Manage back up.
2. Turn on Desktop, Documents and Pictures.
3. Files are now stored in OneDrive and synced to your PC — available from any device and kept in version history.

The free OneDrive plan has limited storage; Microsoft 365 plans include much more. Work laptops usually have this managed by IT.

Layer 2: an external drive with File History

1. Plug in an external drive.
2. Control Panel → File History → select the drive → Turn on.
3. Choose how often to save copies (every hour is a good default) and how long to keep them.

File History keeps versions, so you can go back to yesterday’s spreadsheet before you overwrote it.

Restore a file

• OneDrive: right-click the file → Version history, or the OneDrive website → Recycle bin.
• File History: right-click the folder → Restore previous versions.

The same 3-2-1 idea applies to phones: back up phone photos properly.