How to backup user profile windows 10

In Windows 11, you can restore files from a backup created with Backup and Restore or File History.

Restore files with File History

1. Connect the external storage device that contains your backup files.

2. In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel, then select it from the list of results.

3. In the search box in Control Panel, type File History. Select Save backup copies of your files with File History from the list of results.

4. Follow the instructions to restore your files.

Restore files with Backup and Restore

1. Connect the external storage device that contains your backup files.

2. In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel.

3. Select it from the list of results, then select Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

4. Select another backup to restore files from, select the location of your external storage device, and follow the instructions to restore your files.

Restore Windows files and settings

If you’ve chosen to sync settings from a Windows 10 or 11 device, they’ll be automatically restored on your new PC when you sign in with your Microsoft account. In Windows 11, you can also restore your Microsoft Store apps and OneDrive folders. For more info on syncing settings, see About Windows backup and sync settings.

Recovery options in Windows
Open Backup Settings

Back up your PC with File History 

Use File History to back up to an external drive or network location. Select Start​  > Settings  > Update & Security  > Backup > Add a drive , and then choose an external drive or network location for your backups.

Restore your files with File History

If you're missing an important file or folder that you've backed up, here's how to get it back:

1. In the search box on the taskbar, type restore files, and then select Restore your files with File History.

2. Look for the file you need, then use the arrows to see all its versions.

3. When you find the version you want, select Restore to save it in its original location. To save it in a different place, right-click Restore, select Restore to, and then choose a new location.

Find your backups created on previous versions of Windows

If you used Backup and Restore to back up files or create system image backups in previous versions of Windows, your old backup is still available in Windows 10. In the search box on the taskbar, type control panel. Then select Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Recovery options in Windows
Open Backup Settings

Windows 10 allows multiple user accounts on a computer. Thus many people can use a single computer and have their settings and preference. This cuts all the annoyance when your brother put a supercar wallpaper on the desktop. When you upgrade your computer or install Windows 10 again, you might want to back up your user profile and restore it afterward. Windows 10 continually bringing quality updates twice in a year, the recent update was October 2018 update (see this post for how to get it) which introduces to new exciting features including Cortona’s ability to control more aspects of your computer. In this tutorial, you are going to learn backup user profile on Windows 10 step by step instructions with images whereas possible.

Step 1. The first thing, open Settings app and go to Update & Security then click on Backup. Select ‘Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)’ option this opens a new page. Access the settings app with Windows + I shortcut keys. Here you just learned to open the settings app is super easy and saves you a couple of extra mouse clicks.

Step 2. Click on the ‘Set up backup‘ to start the process, also you can access the same by going to Control Panel > System and security and then Backup and restore. Microsoft is working to replace Control panel with the Settings app since there are still a few things that you can manage through the Control Panel, it is not going anywhere in the next couple of years. The setup and restore utility is first seen in Windows 7 that allows backup data and restore. Later Windows 10 arrived, and it doesn’t have a different mechanism to restore and backup user profile, so it uses the same option we’ve seen in Windows 10. Also, you can migrate from backup files from a Windows 7 and restore to Windows 10 computer (system image function won’t work).

Step 3. For the first time, the backup setup asks where to save the backup. You can choose a drive where Windows is not installed to prevent data loss in case of Windows files corruption or to be sure backup is safely stored. Choose a drive and click Next. Additionally, you can save the backup on a cloud storage service, for that use the below button “save on a network” and the backup will be synced to OneDrive or any available option.

Step 4. The next step you need to select between letting Windows automatically select what to backup or manually choosing what to backup, if you just need to backup the user profile select “let me choose” and proceed to the next step. It includes all the data in Desktop and documents.

Step 5. Tick the ‘Username Libraries’ this will do the job. Do not tick the option to include a system image of drives because it will increase the backup size, unless you don’t to how to (re) install Windows 10 when it fails to boot. Click next. You can use this same method to backup entire drives. When Windows is installed on local disk c backup, it creates a system image you can use to restore Windows as it is at the time creating the backup.

Step 6. Review the backup settings, and click ‘save settings and run backup’ also schedule the backup to run weekly or daily. If you are also backup in your local drives you might not want to schedule the backup on a regular basis because it will quickly occupy the whole free storage.

Step 7. Your profile is being backup up, check the progress on the same page. It will take from a few minutes to an hour depending on the files that are being backed up.

To reduce the backup size

• Move all the big files to another hard drive.
• Remove windows update temporary files.

Restore a user profile

In order to restore user profile, open the Settings app, then ‘Updates and backup’ group of settings. From there click the Backup from the left sidebar, and click ‘use backup and restore (windows 7). Or you can open MY PC and paste the following into the address bar.

Control Panel\System and Security\Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

From the end of the WIndows, select restore option and browse to the backup location. Windows 10 will handle the rest. If the backup also includes a system image, then it might take a few minutes to finish the process. That’s why when creating a user profile backup untick the drive image backup (see step 5).

We hope you understand how to backup user profile on Windows 10, but still, if you have any concerns or questions regarding the topic, feel free to leave a comment.

Prev

How to Make Persistence USB for Linux OS (Ubuntu, Debian)

Next

Install Let’s Encrypt SSL on Runcloud Free Plan

Can the user profile in Windows be backed up?

How do I copy a profile in Windows 10?

Can I copy a user profile from one PC to another?

How do I recover a deleted user and profile in Windows 10?