How to Backup Only New or Changed Files in Windows 11/10? 2 Ways

Can You Backup Only Changed Files Windows 10/11

On your computer, there may be many precious photos, files, documents, and other data. To safeguard your data, you may choose to back up these files. But if a mass of files are generated every day or at set intervals, the backups could take much disk space and it is troublesome to back up each day.

Then, a question comes: is there any way to only backup changed files? Of course, you can backup only new or changed files in Windows 10/11. This could help you save time and disk storage space.

To do this task, incremental backup and differential backup are the common ways. An incremental backup is a backup of all newly added or modified files since the last backup (full backup or incremental backup) while a differential backup is a backup of all the changed data since the last full backup. To know these two methods, refer to this related post – 3 Types of Backup: Full, Incremental, Differential.

If you want to backup only changed files, try to make incremental or differential backups. In the following part, learn how to copy only changed files to an external hard drive or USB flash drive.

How to Backup Only New or Changed Files Windows 10/11

Windows Backup Only Changed Files

Does Windows 10 Backup only backup changed files? Of course, the inbuilt backup tool called Backup and Restore (Windows 7) in Windows 11/10 can be a good option for you to create a backup for the only changed files. You can use it to make a scheduled plan.

Connect your external hard drive or USB drive to your PC and then follow the steps below to accomplish the task:

Step 1: Open Backup and Restore (Windows 7) in this way: go to open Control Panel, view all the items by large icons, and click Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 2: In the new window, click Set up backup from the right pane.

Step 3: Choose a location to save the backup and go on.

Step 4: Choose the files you want to back up – Here we use the Let me choose option and then choose items for backup.

Step 5: After reviewing your backup settings, you can click Change schedule to re-configure how often you want to back up based on your needs.

Step 6: Click the Save settings and run backup button to run the backup. Then, new files that have been created or files that have changed since your last backup will be added to your backup according to the schedule you have set.

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Backup Only Changed Files Windows 10 via MiniTool ShadowMaker

In addition to Backup and Restore (Windows 7), you can run a powerful third-party backup software. Here, we advise you to use MiniTool ShadowMaker. It is an all-in-one backup tool that enables you to create a system image for Windows 11/10/8/7, back up files, folders, disks, and selected partitions, sync files & folders, and clone a hard drive.

It allows you to make incremental or differential backups for the only changed or newly added data. Besides, scheduled backups can be created by MiniTool ShadowMaker. Compared to Backup and Restore (Windows 7), this tool is more flexible and simpler for PC backup. Just click the download button below to get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition and install it on your computer and then start to backup only changed files.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

See how to backup only new or changed files Windows 11/10.

Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker and click Keep Trial to continue.

Step 2: Move to the Backup page, system partitions are selected by default. To back up files & folders, click SOURCE and then Folders and Files, open File Explorer under Computer, find files or folders you want to back up, and click OK.

Step 3: Click DESTINATION and choose the external hard drive or USB flash drive to save the image file.

Step 4: Click Options > Schedule Settings, enable this feature, and set a scheduled plan to back up data automatically at the time point you have configured.

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Step 5: To backup only changed files, click Options > Backup Scheme, enable the feature, and choose Incremental or Differential based on your needs.

Step 6: Click Back Up Now on the Backup page after finishing the configurations. Then, MiniTool ShadowMaker will automatically backup only changed or newly added files at the set time point and delete some old backups at the same time.

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Now two ways to backup only changed files in Windows 11/10 are introduced to you. Compared to the inbuilt Windows backup tool, MiniTool ShadowMaker is more powerful in features to meet your many needs and it can easily create a backup for your PC under the easy-to-use user interface. If you are interested in this tool, don’t hesitate to download and install it to have a try.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

If you have any ideas on how to backup only new or changed files in Windows 10/11, leave a comment below and we will reply to you as soon as possible.