Windows 10: Enable or Disable File History in Windows 10

How to: Enable or Disable File History in Windows 10


Information File History was first introduced in Windows 8, and has been improved in Windows 10.

You can use File History to automatically back up versions of your files on a schedule to a location you select to save to. You can select to save backups to an internal hard drive, externally connected drive (ex: USB drive), or you can save to a drive on a network. You can add, remove, and exclude folders to be backed up by File History.

Over time, you'll have a complete history of your files. If the originals are lost, damaged, or deleted, you can restore them. You can also browse and restore different versions of your files.

File History takes advantage of a feature built into the NTFS file system called the change journal to keep track of changes to files. Essentially, when any change is made to a file or folder on your hard disk, the change journal is updated with a description of the change and the name of the file or folder. So to determine which files need to be backed up, File History simply consults the NTFS change journal. Using the change journal is fast and efficient and won't use up a lot of system resources like running a conventional backup routine does.

If the drive selected as the backup location becomes unavailable, such as when a USB cable is disconnected or the network goes down for maintenance, File History will continue to do its job by saving the copies to a cache on the local drive. Once the backup location becomes available again, the cached contents are transferred to that location and removed from the local drive.

For more about File History, see:

• File History in Windows
• Windows 8: File History explained | TechNet Magazine
  

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable File History for all users in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to enable or disable File History.


Warning Making new backups with File History is no longer supported starting with Windows 10 build 16215.

You can still restore files from an existing File History backup though.

File History will eventually be replaced by a new feature called Timeline.

Update: File History is back in Windows 10 build 16226.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Enable or Disable File History using Group Policy
• Option Two: To Enable or Disable File History using a REG file

EXAMPLE: File History disabled











OPTION ONE [/i] To Enable or Disable File History using Group Policy


Note Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Two below.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\File History




3. In the right pane of File History in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Turn off File History policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Enable File History
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: Not Configured is the default setting.

6. To Disable File History
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Enable or Disable File History using a REG file


Note The .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory

Disabled DWORD

(delete) = Enable File History
1 = Disable File History

1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable File History
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_File_History.reg

Download

3. To Disable File History
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_File_History.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable User Files Backup in Windows Backup in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Create a System Image in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off File History in Windows 10
• How to Reset File History to Default in Windows 10
• How to Add History to Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to Create File History shortcut in Windows 10

:)

 

How do disable search history in file explorer?


Hello, I was wondering how do I completely disable the search history in the search box in file explorer? I found this guide, but this is for erasing only. Clear File Explorer History in Windows 10 Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

I want to completely disable the search function. Windows 8 had this option: Search Suggestions in File Explorer - Enable or Disable in Windows 8 but it didn't work for Windows 10.

Thank you!

 

Windows 10 File History Not Working

This issue can also happen if Indexing service (Windows Search service) is disabled. To check this setting, kindly follow these steps:

• Open Run and type Service.msc.
• Double-click on Windows Search and check if it's disabled. Set it to
  Automatic.
• Click on Apply, then choose OK.

This setting scans and inspects the file system from time to time. It looks for changes to backup your files when you start using the File History.

Additionally, we suggest checking 'Mike P's reply to a similar concern found on this thread posted last October 4, 2015:

File History - Could not enable File History. Renaming the folder did the trick relating the same issue.

Let us know of the status or progress regarding your query.

 

File History: Could not enable File History, this service cannot start, either it is disabled or no enabled devices associated with it

File History: Could not enable File History, this service cannot start, either it is disabled or no enabled devices associated with it

 

Windows 10 OS on a laptop. unable to enable file history

Hello,

One of the possible reasons why you are having issues in using File History is because the system cannot trace the path where you saved your backup/s. To enable File History, simply follow the steps below:

• Connect your external drive and on the Start menu search box, type File History and select the first result.
• Once it opens it will search for your connected drive and click to turn it on.
• Next you’ll get the message that File History is saving copies of your files for the first time.

Should you have further questions, please let us know.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.