How to Backup Windows 11 to External Drive (Files & System)

How do I make a backup of Windows 11? If you are seeking a way to back up your computer to an external hard drive, this post from MiniTool is helpful and you can find details on Windows 11 backup – create a system image backup and back up files. Now, let’s see how to backup Windows 11 with Windows backup tools and MiniTool ShadowMaker.

Necessity of Windows 11 Backup

When making some changes to Windows, you must make sure you have made a backup of your files. This is to ensure the data is secure in case files are lost. Besides, this is conducive to restoring the data when the system crashes. Moreover, it is essential to have a backup of your system, which is critical when the PC fails to load.

If you are running Windows 10, you can refer to this post – How to Backup Files on Windows 10? Try These Top 4 Ways and start Windows 10 backup. But with the release of Windows 11, some of you may wonder about Windows 11 backup since this brand new OS brings many differences. Next, let’s go to see the following part to learn how to back up Windows 11.

How to Backup Windows 11 to External Drive (Files & System)

Owning a backup copy of important files or creating a system image is always good. Keeping copies in a secure place is important in case something goes wrong with the originals. A good location to store backup copies is an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or online storage.

If you get ready for Windows backup, follow the ways below now.

Backup Windows 11 Files to OneDrive

There are multiple ways to back up files in Windows 11 and one simple way is to set up OneDrive backup – it is an online backup. OneDrive can help to back up your files & photos and you can access them from any device and anywhere.

OneDrive is the cloud storage of Microsoft and you will have a free 5GB available space when signing up for it. To get more free space, perform an upgrade plan.

Here is how to backup files on Windows 11 via OneDrive.

Step 1: To use OneDrive for Windows 11 file backup, you should first have a OneDrive account. Just go to create a one via this link.

Step 2: After signing up OneDrive, go to Windows 11 Settings by pressing the Win + I keys.

Step 3: Go to Accounts > Windows backup.

Step 4: Click the Set up syncing button next to OneDrive folder syncing.

Step 5: Choose the folders you want to back up and then click the Start backup button.

To know more information about OneDrive backup, refer to this post – Break OneDrive 5GB Free Backup Limit for Installing Windows 11.

In addition to backing up data to cloud storage, you can choose to back up your Windows 11 computer to an internal or external hard drive, USB thumb drive, etc. using File History, Backup and Restore, and a third-party Windows 11 backup software.

Back up Files in Windows 11 with File History

File History is a built-in backup tool in Windows 10 and Windows 11. With it, you can easily back up your folders including Music, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Videos, Desktop, Contacts, OneDrive, etc. An external hard drive or USB flash drive is a good storage device.

In Windows 11, File History has a huge change and it cannot be found in Settings. And the way to use it for file backup is also different from Windows 10. Well then, how to backup Windows 11 files with File History? Follow the instructions below.

Step 1: Click the search button, type file history, and click the tool from the search result to open. Alternatively, you can go to Control Panel (viewed by large icons) > File History.

Step 2: You will get a message saying “No usable drives were found”. You can connect your USB thumb drive or external drive to the Windows 11 computer for backup. Or click Select a network location. Here, we use a USB drive as a storage device.

Step 3: Click Turn on and File History will start saving copies of your files so that you can restore them if they are damaged or lost.

Windows 11 File History allows you to back up files automatically. By default, it can help you to back up files every hour. If you want to customize the setting, go to Advanced settings > Save copies of files and then select the frequency option. Finally, click Save changes.

Tips:

Besides, you can customize how long to keep saved versions, exclude folders from File History, and more. To know more information about this tool, refer to this post - Windows 10 vs Windows 11 File History: What’s the Difference.

After finishing Windows 11 backup via File History, if you want to get lost or damaged data back, click Restore personal files. Then, click the gear icon and choose Restore or Restore to.

How to Backup Windows 11 to External Hard Drive via Backup and Restore

In Windows, there is another backup tool called Backup and Restore (Windows 7). With it, you can easily create a system image in Windows 11. In addition, files on your hard drive can be also backed up by this tool. Also, it supports automatic backup.

How to back up Windows 11 to an external drive with Backup and Restore? The following are the steps and let’s see them.

Step 1: Type control panel into the search box and click the result to open this tool.

Step 2: List all the items by large icons and then click the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) link to open this built-in Windows 11 backup tool.

System Image Backup Windows 11

A system image is very important in case the system fails to boot. If you have created one, you can easily restore the system to a normal state. Besides, if you install Windows 11 and it always has glitches and bugs, but the rollback option is not available after 10 days, the system image can help you go back to Windows 10 from Windows 11.

The following is how to create a Windows 11 image backup for the system.

Step 1: In the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) interface, click Create a system image to continue.

Step 2: Decide where to save the backup. To create a Windows 11 system image, you can choose an external hard drive, DVD, or a network location.

Tips:

You cannot back up Windows 11 to USB using Create a system image. If you select a USB drive as the storage path, an error appears saying "the drive is not a valid backup location".

Step 3: Choose drives to include in the backup. By default, system-related partitions are selected. Just click Next to go on.

Step 4: Confirm your backup settings and then click Start backup. Then, Windows is starting the backup.

Tips:

Sometimes the backup fails with an error, for example, no enough disk space to create the volume shadow copy 0x80780119 error, there was a failure in preparing the backup image, Windows Backup failed to get an exclusive lock on the EFI system partition, etc.

Back up Files in Windows 11 via Set up Backup

Backup and Restore (Windows 7) offers you a feature called Set up backup that allows you to back up files stored on the hard drives connected to your computer. Here is how to backup files on Windows 11 with this feature.

Step 1: Click Set up backup from the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) page.

Step 2: Choose the drive that you want to save the files to and click Next.

Step 3: Decide what you want to back up. If you check Let Windows choose, Windows will back up files in libraries, on the desktop, and in default Windows folders. Besides, a system image will be created. If you choose Let me choose, you can customize files that you want to back up and don’t create a system image. Here, we choose the second one.

Step 4: Select the check box of the items you want to include in the backup. If you don’t want to create a system image of Windows 11, uncheck the box of Include a system image of drives.

Step 5: Review your backup settings and then click the Save settings and run backup button.

This Windows backup tool helps back up your computer on a regular schedule. It has a default value. But you can customize the backup frequency by clicking Change schedule. Then, changed or new files since your last backup will be added to your backup according to the schedule you set.

After backup, you can manage backup space, change settings, restore Windows 11 backups, and more.

Now we have shown you three backup options offered by Microsoft. If you want to back up files to cloud storage, use OneDrive. Windows 11 File History only allows you to back up folders in Library. To back up files, you can use Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Besides, this tool can also help to create a system image. Just choose one tool for Windows 11 backup according to your needs.

Of course, the Windows built-in backup tools are not perfect and they only meet some demands. At this time, backup software for Windows 11 from third-party manufacturers appears on the market. Here we will recommend MiniTool ShadowMaker.

How to Backup Windows 11 with MiniTool ShadowMaker

MiniTool ShadowMaker, a professional and free Windows 11 backup software, can be used to make a computer backup within simple steps, including files, folders, systems, disks, and partitions. It supports incremental backup & differential backup and automatic backup (four options – daily, weekly, monthly, and on event). To manage backup disk space, you can easily delete old backup versions by customizing the backup scheme.

Besides, MiniTool ShadowMaker allows syncing files, cloning HDD to SSD, performing a PXE boot, creating a bootable USB flash/hard drive or CD/DVD to restore the system when it cannot boot, make advanced settings including image creation mode, file size, compression, comment, email, excluding and more.

Compared to Windows 11 Backup and Restore, this backup software can offer various options and back up your PC in a flexible way. To know more information, refer to this post – Windows 10 vs Windows 11 Backup & Restore vs MiniTool ShadowMaker.

Now, click the following button to get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition and free try it within 30 days.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

See how to backup computer to external hard drive Windows 11:

Step 1: Launch this backup software for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and connect your external drive to the PC.

Step 2: Click Keep Trial to enter the main interface.

Step 3: Navigate to Backup, you can find this tool backs up system partitions by default. To back up files, go to Source > Folders and Files and choose items.

Step 4: Click Destination and choose an external hard drive or USB drive as a path. Also, you can back up the PC to NAS.

Step 5: Click Back Up Now to start backup right now.

Tips:

To automatically back up files, go to Options > Schedule Settings, enable this feature, and configure a time point. To delete old backup files, use Backup Scheme. Besides, if you want to manage your backup, you can navigate to the Manage page.

Bottom Line

Now, you know how to backup Windows 11 files and system after reading this long article. Three backup tools from Microsoft and one Windows 11 backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker are introduced here. Just choose one for Windows 11 backup based on your needs.

If you have any idea on how to back up Windows 11 or you have any issues when using MiniTool software, send an email to support@minitool.com.

About The Author

Vera Follow Us

Position: Columnist

Vera is an editor of the MiniTool Team since 2016 who has more than 7 years’ writing experiences in the field of technical articles. Her articles mainly focus on disk & partition management, PC data recovery, video conversion, as well as PC backup & restore, helping users to solve some errors and issues when using their computers. In her spare times, she likes shopping, playing games and reading some articles.