Isn’t it frustrating? You made a few adjustments on a document but you accidentally saved over the document’s true copy. All of a sudden, your hard work is gone in the blink of any eye. The good news is that Windows 10/11 has a handy feature that can save the day. It’s called Windows 10/11 File History.
What Can File History Do for Windows 10/11?
Windows 10/11 File History is a handy utility that can be used to back up older file versions while you are working on them. It can even store files onto the external hard drive for easy access in the future.
Over time, your library grows due to the past file versions. This makes it easy for you to recover files from various points in time.
For instance, your boss prefers the formatting of the first version of the file, but you already deleted it. With File History, you can conveniently retrieve the correct document version.
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How to Access File History on Windows 10/11
File History is a built-in Windows utility. This means you don’t need to download anything.
To access it, go to Control Panel or Settings. For a detailed guide, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to Update and Security.
- Visit the Backup tab.
- At this point, you need to add an external hard drive. Press the + button and select the Add a Drive option.
- You will then be asked to choose an external drive. Select the external drive you want.
How to Activate File History
File History will only start archiving your data if you activate it. So, how do you activate it?
- Go to the Search bar and type file history.
- Hit Enter and click on the first item in the search results.
- In the window that opens, toggle on the Automatically back up my files.
- By default, all files and folders should be saved under the User folder. If you want to remove them, as well as other files in File History, hit More Options.
- From here, the steps should be as simple as clicking the Add a Folder button.
How to Access the Older Versions of a File
After activating Windows 10/11 File History, you should be able to navigate around and explore how it works. To get started, follow these steps:
- Right-click on File Explorer.
- Click Properties.
- Here, you will have easy access to archived versions of files. You will see the total number of times the file has been changed and the dates when changes were applied.
Should You Use Windows 10/11 File History?
With all the convenience that Windows 10/11 File History brings, do you think it’s a great utility? Well, the truth is it is. In fact, it is hard to think of reasons not to use it. Perhaps the only suggested improvement we can think of is if you don’t have to manually enable it. By then, you can simply right-click on a file and choose to restore the past versions, if necessary.
Wrapping Up
Yes, File History is indeed a useful and easy to use utility. However, it should not be used as a replacement for a complete system backup. In case Windows crashes or your hardware component fails, you still need a reliable backup file to recover your documents and system files.
To ensure no malware entity will infect your system, make sure you install a reliable anti-malware tool to protect your PC and run regular scans using a PC repair tool to get rid of unnecessary system junk that takes up significant hard disk space.
Have you tried using File History before? Share your experience with us!