Windows 10: Microsoft Fixes File History Backup Failures Caused by September Windows Updates

Microsoft has fixed a known issue that stopped the File History backup feature from working on some Windows PCs after the September 2026 security updates were installed.

The fix ships in the optional KB5124010 and KB5124006 cumulative updates for Windows 11, according to Microsoft, and Windows 11 users who skip those optional updates will receive it with the October 13 Patch Tuesday release.

Microsoft first warned about the problem in a Saturday service alert on its Windows release health dashboard. On affected systems, File History stops creating or updating backups, and Event Viewer records application crash events that reference FileHistory.exe and KERNELBASE.dll.

Windows Versions and Symptoms Linked to the File History Bug


The bug reaches well beyond the newest releases. Microsoft lists Windows 10 21H2 and later, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016 and 2019, and Windows 11 23H2 and later as affected.

Failed backups are not always obvious. Users see "Reconnect your drive" alerts even when a compatible backup drive is connected and working properly. Files that were backed up earlier can show "No previous version available," and the "Last Backup" timestamp stops updating.

"After installing the September 2026 Windows security update [..], some customers using File History might be unable to create or update backups," Microsoft said in the alert.

File History, found under Control Panel > System and Security > File History, copies the Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Desktop folders of a user profile to an external drive or a network location, and lets users restore older versions of deleted or damaged files. The feature was introduced in Windows 8 and was later replaced by Windows Backup.

How to Get the File History Fix on Windows 11


Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that the fix is rolling out with this month's optional preview updates. According to the release notes, the update "addresses an issue where File History might fail to back up or restore files to an external drive or network location." The company recommends installing the latest update for each device.

1. Open Windows Update and check for available updates.
2. Install KB5124010 on Windows 11 24H2 or 25H2, or KB5124006 on Windows 11 26H1.
3. Restart the PC when the installation finishes.
4. Open Control Panel > System and Security > File History and confirm that the "Last Backup" timestamp changes after the next backup.

Optional updates are preview releases, so administrators who prefer to wait for Patch Tuesday can skip them and pick up the same fix on October 13. Until then, File History users on unpatched systems should not rely on the feature as their only backup.

File History is not the only feature hit by this month's patches. Microsoft released out-of-band updates last week for Hyper-V, Remote Desktop Services, and USB audio problems, and September updates also broke Always On VPN connections.

Microsoft's fix announcement covers Windows 11, and the company has not listed a separate fix for the affected Windows 10 releases.

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Windows 10 update: start up and sleep issues caused

Dear Vijay,

Thank you for your response: apologies for slow feedback.

Regarding step 1 - doing a restore point : I tried this twice and twice it failed. Now, the date of the update that caused the issue (13/14 September 2019) has disappeared from the history list. Is there a way of finding it, still?

Regarding Step 2- the list of updates installed: the two suggestions above do not seem to appear in the list in the window "Installed Updates".

There are two updates listed for 13 September - Security Update for Adobe Flash Player and Security Update for Microsoft Windows.

Could you advise what I might try next?

Thank you so much.

 

File History never copies anything

Hi,

Temporary system failure is one of the possible reasons why this issue is happening. To help resolve the issue, we suggest deleting the files in the USB drive. Follow the steps below:

• Open Settings > Update & Security > Backup > More Options.
  
• Click Stop using this drive.
  
• Delete the File History folder on your external drive.
  
• Try again to add the USB drive to backup File History.
  

Keep us in the loop with the result.

 

File History restart

Hi Jim,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community forums.



To change the backup drive for File History, the current process should be stopped. I suggest you to try the steps listed below to stop file history on an older drive and restart it on a new drive:



Change File History backup drive:

• Open Settings and navigate to Update & Security > Backup.
  
• Click on More Options, scroll down to locate
  Backup to a different drive section, and choose Stop Using Drive.
  
• Plug in the new storage drive, navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Backup,
  and choose Add a Drive.
  
• Restart File History and configure it by referring to the article
  
  File History in Windows.
  

Hope it helps.

Regards,