I want to Reset my PC but keep my files & settings, how do I do it?

Thank you for the update.

Microsoft does indeed push OneDrive as a primary option for backups, but you can still back up to your portable drive. Since you’re in Advanced Storage options, the process for backing up to a portable hard drive (bypassing the cloud) works like this:

Open File Explorer:

Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.

Manually Copy Your Data:

Navigate to the folders where your files and settings are located, such as:

C:\Users\YourUsername (for Documents, Pictures, Downloads, and even AppData which contains profiles and settings).

Profile paths I listed for Thunderbird, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge earlier.

Copy to Portable Drive:

Connect your portable drive and drag-and-drop or copy-paste the folders into it. This way, you can ensure all your important files and profiles are backed up without using the cloud.

Please let me know if this works for you. I'll do my best to respond as soon as possible.

Your suggestion for backing up my drive, file or folder by folder will take until Christmas. There has to be an easier way.

I have backed up the Thunderbird profile but I get a location error when I use the same method for Firefox. %APPDATA%\Firefox\Profiles. I resolved the Screenshots folder location problem when I discovered I had two of them. one I could access the other not. I deleted one as the other seemed to have all my screenshots and I could access them..

I have not tried Chrome and Edge profiles if I knew where they were. This thread is too long to find anything. I used Windows since Windows 95 but most of the time as a user with a Technology manager to sort out any problems. I like to use my PC but I cahad ve't sort out problems any longer. Not having a simple way of backing up files to MY drive when my Reset messed up so much that I now have to sort. I feel I'm on my last Windows PC.

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I searched Users/My ID and found very little.
Downloads

Favourites

Links

One Drive

Saved Games - I don't have or use games!

Searches

That's it. I have no idea where everything else is. I'm beginning to think I should save the Thunderbird profile because I have most to lose there and then do another Reset or Clean Install and start from the beginning. Nothing has worked with Reset PC.

I would save the profiles in One Drive if I knew they would update automatically else I may as well copy then from time to time.

When I found the Thunderbird profile in File Explorer I thought saving to the Cloud would be an option from the right click menu.

I'm really sorry about this. If you don't want to go folder-by-folder, you can consider using third-party backup software that allows full disk or system-level backups, which may simplify the process for you. Some software options (e.g., Acronis True Image, Macrium Reflect) allow you to back up an entire drive or partition with just a few clicks, and they support external hard drives like yours.

This way, you won’t have to manually sort through folders, and it can save significant time compared to manually copying everything.

Again, I'm really sorry about the inconvenience that has caused you so far.