So,...is Windows/Microsoft no longer allowing backups, except to Onedrive?

MatthewDunn-4390 60 Reputation points
2026-09-15T15:21:55.0966667+00:00

Win11

Onedrive is not active on my computer. (I know it can't really be uninstalled -- but, all its features and abilities to backup folders, etc. have been turned off/deactivated.)

I use an external hard drive for backup.

When I search for "backup to external drive," I get answers -- recent ones! -- that say to do this. Go: SETTINGS > SYSTEM > STORAGE > ADVANCED STORAGE SETTINGS > BACKUP OPTIONS. That takes you to: ACCOUNTS > WINDOWS BACKUP.

Please, . . . where is the option:

  1. to backup ANYTHING?
  2. to choose ANOTHER DRIVE (like, an external one)?

Windows still has File History in Control Panel . . . which still works (for now). But, Microsoft keeps promising/threatening to deprecate Control Panel with this feature, so that everything would go to Settings.

Fine -- if Settings had a Backup option to do what Fule History does . . . which it doesn't!

See:

2026-09-15 11_08_51-Settings

I've noticed that there is no option at all in Settings to add or choose that drive for use as a backup

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Recovery and backup
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Answer accepted by question author
DaveM121 932.4K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-09-15T16:00:19.1966667+00:00

1

The options in the Settings app - Accounts - Windows Backup can only backup your user settings to your Microsoft account and sync your files to OneDrive, it is not a file backup function.

If you do not want to use OneDrive, open the Settings App, go to Apps - Installed Apps and you can uninstall OneDrive app from there.

2

The old Windows backup function still exists in Windows 11 in the old Control Panel, and even if they do eventually move all options from the old Control Panel to the new Settings app, that would also be moved to the Settings App because so many people still use that function and people will need to restore their data form the backups they have created.

Open the old Control Panel, and set View to large icons.

There, you will find the 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)' applet.

That can be used to setup a backup of your full system to another drive.

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  1. Craig Long 18,630 Reputation points
    2026-09-15T21:19:11.2733333+00:00

    By default, OneDrive only backs up files on the C: drive. Why not keep your files on an external drive or a separate partition to avoid OneDrive? Then use third-party software to back up or clone that drive.

    Let OneDrive back up the Desktop folder and the others, while you avoid them whenever possible.

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  2. Bulldog 4,625 Reputation points
    2026-09-15T15:45:54.0533333+00:00

    1- The OneDrive app certainly can be uninstalled.

    2- I don't use Windows Backup (or File History) simply because third-party backup apps are so much more powerful and convenient. Windows Backup and File History are currently the only Microsoft apps that are supported for making backups.

    Like many apps included with Windows for no extra charge, Windows Backup provides basic functionality for users who are uncomfortable with installing software or prefer apps from Microsoft. Nothing wrong with that, but you can do much better with third-party software.

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