Toggle the switches for , Apps , Settings , and Credentials to sync them to your Microsoft Account.
Essential for recovering from a total hard drive crash.
These often offer scheduled images, compression, and encryption.
Complete Guide to Windows 11 Backup to External Drive (2026 Update) windows 11 backup to external drive updated
If your goal is to restore your entire system—including Windows, installed applications, settings, and files—after a hard drive failure, you need a . Microsoft still includes the classic backup tool, but you have to find it.
Ensure your drive is formatted as NTFS or exFAT.
If your external drive is detected, you will see it listed. Click the button. Toggle the switches for , Apps , Settings
This is the best way to automatically save different versions of your photos, music, and documents to an external drive. your external drive to your PC.
File History is your go-to tool for continuous file protection.
Under the category, click on Backup and Restore (Windows 7) . (Note: Microsoft still uses this legacy tool name, but it works perfectly for creating modern Windows 11 system images). In the left-hand pane, click Create a system image . Complete Guide to Windows 11 Backup to External
to your Windows 11 PC. Ensure it is formatted as NTFS (or exFAT for cross-compatibility). Right-click the drive in File Explorer and select Format if needed.
The Complete Guide to Windows 11 Backup to External Drive (Updated)