Windows 8/8.1 and 10 File History is a bit like Previous Versions in Windows Vista and 7, but it has to be set up and configured first. Unlike the System Restore-integrated file recovery in older Windows versions, File History keeps most backups on a separate hard drive, removable drive (external hard drive or USB stick), or network drive - only a small amount of previous versions are kept on the drive where Windows is installed.
Caveats and prerequisites of File History in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10
Do not expect File History to cover all your folders or whole drives - it backs up all your default and custom Libraries (including Public Folders), plus Contacts, Desktop, and Favorites folders. Your only way to include other folders in Windows 8 and 8.1 is to create your own custom Libraries. Windows 10 allows adding folders to File History via the Modern UI/Metro user interface.
Furthermore, File History does not back up any files or folders that use EFS (Encrypting File System). You might want to use BitLocker or VeraCrypt's system drive encryption for added security.
In Windows 8.1 and 10, File History does not back up items in your OneDrive (aka SkyDrive) folder unless they are made available offline.
File History Service depends on Windows Search service, so the latter must be enabled and running for File History to function properly.
To check the status of File History and Windows Search services, use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to open the Run dialog, type services.msc and click OK. Touch-screen users should open the Start screen, swipe in from the right side, tap Search and type services.msc.
Make sure both services are set to start automatically. If not, double-click on the service name and change Startup type to Automatic, then click Start to run the service.
File History can become extremely useful in cases your computer has been hit with ransomware such as CryptoLocker or CBT/CTB Locker (aka Onion or FBI virus) that encrypts all detected documents, photos, and e-mails. After cleaning your computer from the malware itself, restore a previous version to get your valuable data back.
Unlike traditional backup apps, File History does not require administrator rights to set up, or back up and restore files.
In fact, every user should configure it the way he/she likes and even use different drives. I repeat: turning File History on or off for one user account does not affect other users on the same PC.
It is recommended (but not required) to use Storage Spaces for File History drive.
Final warning: File History is not a replacement for traditional backups and disk imaging, it only backs up your personal files. Programs, apps, settings, or Windows installations cannot be recovered with this app.
Starting File History in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10
First, connect the drive that you want to use for File History backups.
In Windows 8 and 8.1, File History is a traditional Control Panel program.
Windows 10 has two versions of File History:
- Control Panel program - its only advantage in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (October 2017) and later is that you can choose the existing File History backup while adding a drive.
This program is still being used for restoring files and folders. - Modern UI/Windows Store app - almost as functional as the Control Panel program since October 2017.
This is the recommended option in most cases.
In Windows 10, click or tap the Start button, type "backup" and choose Backup settings. This opens the modern app.
Alternatively in Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later, open the Run dialog with keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R or via the Quick Links menu (Windows Key+X), type ms-settings:backup and click OK to access the Modern UI application.
To use the Control Panel equivalent, type "control panel" into the search box and click or touch the result. In Control Panel's icon view, click File History; in the Category view, select Save backup copies of your files with File History in the System and Security section instead.
Move to the Configuring File History in Windows 10 part.
In Windows 8 and 8.1, open Settings search using keyboard shortcut Windows Key+W, type "file history" into the Search box, and click File History. Touch-screen users should swipe in from the right side of the screen and tap Search.
Jump to the Configuring File History in Windows 8 and 8.1 section.
Configuring File History in Windows 10
In Windows 10 File History app, click or tap Add a drive and choose the target disk. If the Settings app crashes after this, just retry the operation.
In Windows 10, this creates a new folder with your device name on the target drive's File History folder. If the device name is already there, a new folder/backup location will be created.
To continue using an existing File History backup in Windows 10, you must use the Control Panel program to select the correct backup point as shown below. Windows 10 automatically detects if the target drive has already been used for this purpose.
Windows 10 will now create the first backup of your Libraries and Desktop, Contacts, and Favorites folders. If you selected a drive with existing backup, the operation will be skipped, but it will run automatically after about an hour.
If there are other active users on this device, then do remember that File History must be enabled and configured for each user separately.
To create a manual backup any time later, go to Settings, Update & Security, Backup, click or tap More options and then use the Back up now command.
If Windows 10 has not been able to connect to your File History drive for several days, a notification appears in Action Center. Re-connect the drive as soon as possible.
When this warning keeps re-appearing even when the external drive is properly connected and visible in File Explorer, you need to run a disk check to repair file system errors.
To stop using a drive for File History in Windows 10, click or touch More options, scroll all the way down to the Back up to a different drive section and click or tap the Stop using drive button.
The backup files will remain on the drive, in the FileHistory subfolders.
To see more File History possibilities, move to the Adding folders section.
Configuring File History in Windows 8 and 8.1
Keep a history of your files window opens. Windows 8 and 8.1 try to automatically select the best available drive (the one with most free space) for File History - secondary hard drives, external hard drives, removable drives, and network drives can be used for this. Please note that File History is still not automatically enabled.
You can click the Turn on button if you are satisfied with the File History destination drive.
In case you are using a drive that already includes File History from another device or you are restoring your files after using Reset your PC or Refresh your PC in Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 10, enable the I want to use a previous backup on this File History drive option. If Windows detects a folder named FileHistory on the drive, this checkbox is automatically ticked. To add existing backups to File History on the current PC, click to activate one of the available items in the Select an existing backup list.
If you want to use another drive instead, click Select drive on the left side.
Select a File History drive window opens. Choose the drive you need, or use the Add network location button.
Click OK and Turn on after making changes.
Windows 8 or 8.1 will then make the first backup of your Libraries and Desktop, Contacts, and Favorites folders right away. If you selected a drive with existing backup, the operation will be skipped, but it will run automatically after about an hour. You can later recover your files by clicking Restore personal files on the left.
If there are other active users on this computer, then do remember that File History must be enabled and configured for each user separately.
To create a manual backup any time later, use the Run now command.
If Windows has not been able to connect to your File History drive for several days, a notification appears in Action Center. Re-connect the drive as soon as possible.
When this warning keeps re-appearing even when the external drive is properly connected and visible in File Explorer, you need to run a disk check to repair file system errors.
To disable storing File History on a drive (or turn the feature off completely), click or tap Turn off in Control Panel version of File History. You can then choose another backup target drive, if necessary.
The backup files will remain on the drive, in the FileHistory subfolders.
Adding folders to File History in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10
In Windows 8 and 8.1, there is no clear way of adding folders to File History backups. However, as Libraries are always included, you just need to create a new Library for custom folders or add the folders to an existing Library. All this is covered in the Libraries in Windows tutorial.
While Windows 10's Control Panel version of File History also does not have an option to include custom folders, the new Modern UI app does. In the Settings app, you can find it under Update & Security, Backup. Alternatively, open the Cortana keyboard search (Windows Key+S), type File History, and choose Backup settings.
Click or tap More options in Back up using File History section.
Scroll a bit down to the Back up these folders section where all currently included folders are listed.
Click or touch Add a folder, find the folder to include, and click Choose this folder. That's it!
To remove any of the default or custom items later, click or tap the folder name and choose Remove.
Excluding sub-folders from Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 File History
Sometimes you need to disable the automatic backup of specific folders - maybe you keep some temporary files or really large files there, or perhaps you do not want to make a backup of your Videos library for some reason.
In the File History app of Windows 10, click or tap More options first, then scroll down to the Exclude these folders sections and click or touch Add a folder. Navigate to the desired location and use the Choose this folder button.
To turn off the exclusion later, click or tap on it and choose Remove.
In the Control Panel of Windows 8, 8.1, and 10, click Exclude folders on the left to prevent backing up specific folders or Libraries.
Click Add in the Exclude from File History window and select the folder(s) you don't need. To re-enable backing up a folder later, click it in the Excluded folders and libraries list and then click Remove.
Click Save changes.
Configuring Advanced Settings of Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 File History
In Windows 10 File History app, click or tap More settings first. In the Overview section, Back up my files allows setting how often previous versions are saved. The Keep my backups dropdown controls how long the versions are stored on your backup drive.
There are no buttons for cleaning up versions in Windows 10 Modern UI File History app, but you can scroll all the way down and click the See advanced settings link to open the Control Panel version of File History.
To set some more detailed options in the Control Panel of Windows 8, 8.1, and 10, or to clean up File History versions, click Advanced settings.
The Versions section offers the following settings:
- Save copies of files - how often File History runs automatic backups. The default is hourly, but you can set the frequency to 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes; 3, 6, or 12 hours; or choose to back up files once a day. Please note that a new version is created only when at least one item has changed.
- Size of offline cache (only in Windows 8 and 8.1) - how much disk space to use on the system drive (the drive where Windows is installed). The offline cache acts as a secondary backup in case your external File History drive is not available. The default is 5% of disk space, but you can choose between 2, 10, and 20 percent also.
- Keep saved versions - how long to keep the backups. By default, these are kept forever, but you can also select 1, 3, 6, or 9 months, or 1 or 2 years. If your backup drives are tight on free space, you can select the "Until space is needed" option and risk losing older backups quickly.
The section also includes the Clean up versions command that allows removing older File History backups.
HomeGroup section allows recommending your external drive for File History backups over the network.
The Event logs section includes the Open File History event logs to view recent events or errors command that opens the File History backup log in the Applications and Services Logs section of Event Viewer.
As usual, click Save settings after making changes.
The Clean up versions button in Control Panel opens the File History Cleanup window. By default, it deletes files that are older than 1 year, but you can also choose between 1, 3, 6, and 9 months, or older than 2 years.
In case you desperately need disk space or you must remove older backups, select the "All but the latest one" option.
Click Clean up to erase older versions of files.
When the target drive for File History is constantly near its capacity limit, Action Center (the white flag icon in Taskbar Notification area) notifies you with the "Please select a different drive for File History" message. You should then either move files and folders not related to File History elsewhere or get a larger disk.
Restoring Libraries, folders, and files with Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 File History
The easiest way to restore files, folders, and Libraries in Windows 8 and 8.1 is to open File Explorer (keyboard shortcut Windows Key+E), navigate to the folder or Library where you need to recover items, and click History on Ribbon. This method also works in Windows 10, but read on for an even easier method.
In Windows 10, you can just right-click or tap and hold on an item you want to recover and select Restore previous versions. Then, in the Properties window, open the Previous Versions tab.
Previous Versions tab in Windows 10 File Explorer
In Windows 10, the Previous Versions tab works similarly to the one in Windows Vista and 7.
Populating the tab might take up to a minute in case there are many backups and File History entries available. If the result is "There are no previous versions available", you are out of luck.
Available earlier versions are grouped by date.
You can open the file or folder for comparison, or open the item in the File History browser (described in the next section). Another option is to restore the item (overwrite prompt appears if an item with the same name already exists) or restore it to a different folder.
File History browser in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10
If File History Control Panel window is already open in Windows 8, 8.1, or 10, you can click Restore personal files on the left.
If the folder or Library has been removed or you cannot find it, open Settings search in Windows 8 or 8.1 using keyboard shortcut Windows Key+W, type "restore" and click Restore your files with File History. Touch-screen users can swipe in from the right side of the screen and touch the Search button.
In Windows 10, you should open the Start menu or Cortana keyboard (Windows Key+S) search instead.
Home - File History folder opens. It looks very much like File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer in older Windows versions), but has three additional buttons in the bottom part: the left- and rightmost buttons scroll between available versions (dates and times), and the middle button restores selected items.
You can browse inside available File History versions, use the Search box, and switch between different folder views.
All available versions are grouped by date and time of backup. To make distinguishing between available files easier, I suggest using the Details view (Ctrl+Shift+6) that reveals the last modification time of all items.
To select multiple adjacent items, click the first item. Then hold down the Shift key and click the last item.
To select multiple non-adjacent items, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking. As usual, Ctrl+A selects all items.
The File History browser even allows previews of many types of files - just double-click or double-tap a supported file. Alternatively, right-click an item and select Preview from the menu. If the preview is not supported, you can open the file with its default program to see its contents.
Restoring items to an alternate location for comparison - the safest way with Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 File History browser
If you want to restore a previous version of an existing file or folder, it is best to recover it to a different folder to avoid accidental overwrites.
In Windows 8 and 8.1 File History browser, select the item(s) you want to restore, right-click and select Restore to from the menu. In Windows 10, use the cogwheel button on the top right to choose the Restore to command.
Restore to window opens. Browse to the empty folder or create one. Then click Select Folder.
Restoring items to the original location with Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 File History browser
If the original file, folder, or Library has been deleted, or you are 200% sure you want to replace it with a previous version, select the item(s) you want to recover and click the big blue Restore to original location button in the lower part of File History browser window.
In the case of file conflicts, the Replace or Skip Files dialog appears. You can click Replace the files in the destination to overwrite all existing files.
If you want to choose which files to overwrite and which ones to keep, click Compare info for both files (if there is only one conflict) or Let me decide for each file (if there are multiple conflicts).
File Conflicts window helps to choose which ones to keep and which ones to replace.
Restoring files and folders with File History in Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 after replacing a hard drive or SSD, resetting Windows, or after getting a new Windows PC
After you replace a failed Windows system drive or install Windows on a brand new SSD, you need to reconfigure File History to restore your files and folders. The same applies if you reset Windows or buy a new Windows device.
Please note that if you clone (transfer all files and folders) a system drive, you do not need to set up File History anew.
First, connect your File History drive, open Control Panel, and start File History. Use the Control Panel's Search box on the top-right if you cannot find the item.
Then add existing backups to File History on the current PC by selecting one of the available items in the Select an existing backup list.
And that's about it: you can now restore your personal files and folders as described above.