Windows 10: File History Backup and Local OneDrive Files

I know there have been a number of posts about issues with File History Backup. File History is a nice feature in Windows 10. It serves as a file backup system as well as a convenient way to restore files to previous versions through the File Explorer. I hope Microsoft chooses to improve the feature rather than abandon it as some have suggested they might.


I had been having problems using file history with some files not showing up in history, so I decided to do a fresh start and look more closely at what was going on. I was moving to a new computer, so it was a good time to start over. I erased all the files on the external backup drive (WD MyBook Duo) and configured File History on the new computer to back up both folders that are stored only on my hard drive and the local folders that are used for the OneDrive. I did this after moving files from the old computer to the new computer, so there were plenty of files to be backed-up. The OneDrive is configured to “Always Keep on this device” all the files that are associated with the OneDrive folders, so all OneDrive files are stored locally in a folder that is included in the File History Backup configuration.


After configuring, I pressed “Back up now“ , the backup ran successfully, and the backup updates the files every hour as configured. The backup is configured to “Keep my backups Until space is needed”.


After the backup completed, what I see if I either right click a file and click “Restore previous version” or go into the File History window (click on “Restore files from a current backup” in the Backup Options window) is a listing for every file that was backed up for all folders except for the files that are in the OneDrive folder. For the OneDrive folder, I only see files in History if the file has bee modified or moved since File History Backup was first run. If the file has been modified multiple times, then all versions show up in History correctly, but the file does not show up in history until it has been re-saved or moved at least one time. Is this the way File History was intended to work? Is this what others are seeing?


I would like a local backup for all my local files, even those that are on the OneDrive (and stored locally). Files that are stored on the OneDrive are also on the cloud drive, so there is a way to recover these files, but I still expected these files to be included in the File History backup, or at least be given the option to include these files when configuring the backup.

:)

 

File History Not Backing Up OneDrive Local Files

Hi John,

I have exactly the same issue with File History. I have become aware this evening that the File History component isn't backing up the local replica of my OneDrive folder following the upgrade to the Fall Creators Update.

The last backup of my local OneDrive replica was last Friday, the 20th of October 2017 - prior to the upgrade.

This evening I realised this and went about trying some things. Initially, I did the following;

• Disabled File History
• Went into the folder - %appdata%\Local\Microsoft\windows\FileHistory and deleted everything
• Re-enabled File History - a backup ran, but nothing within the OneDrive folder was backed up

I then did the following;

• Disabled File History
• Went into the folder - %appdata%\Local\Microsoft\windows\FileHistory and deleted everything
• Formatted the external drive
• Re-enabled File History - ran a backup up, it ran but it didn't backup the local OneDrive replica

I then had a check of the File History settings within both the Control Panel and the Settings app; within the Control Panel, nothing is excluded and within the Settings app, the OneDrive folder is selected.

I ran a few more backups, each time the backup ran and completed but the OneDrive folder is ignored!

OneDrive has the default options enabled - so the Files on Demand option is enabled. I switched this off and tried again - the OneDrive isn't being backed up. I switched it back on - still no back up.

I can confirm that File History was backing up the local OneDrive replica under the Creators Update. It has stopped following the upgrade to the Fall Creators Update!

I am a big OneDrive user and I have 823MB of data downloaded to my laptop which isn't being backed up. I am not happy with this!

This appears to be a wide spread issue... so I would expect Microsoft engineers to be working on explaining and resolving this issue.

Can I please ask if Microsoft is aware of this? Are they working on a fix for this issue? When will the fix be available?

I have created an item of Feedback, which is detailed here - Feedback Hub - Windows Insider

Many thanks in advance,

Kind regards,

Neil

 

File History & OneDrive on Demand

I know that "files on demand" aren't saved on my computer. However, I still have the following problems:

• After starting a new File History backup from scratch (as suggested in the first response) the majority of my Onedrive , including almost all files that are marked as "Always Keep on this Device" are not backed up.

• Even for files marked as "Files on Demand" - surely File History should be able to back them up anyway? The whole point of a good backup system is that you have copies of files in multiple places (and OneDrive's cloud system only counts as 1). The creation
  of the file history would be download heavy as it copies every file to my backup device, but after that it should only have to download single files as changes are made.
  

 

Use File History to Backup OneDrive Content

Technical Level : Intermediate

Summary

This article details how to backup OneDrive content to another storage medium using the built-in Windows backup tool File History. For more details about File History, read this page:

Restore files or folders using File History

This is valid on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.

Details

OneDrive is a great tool for syncing and sharing files via Microsoft accounts, however, it's a syncing tool first and files can be permanently deleted. A good practice is to use File History in conjunction with OneDrive so any changes are automatically backed
up to a different location without fear of files being deleted.

Setup OneDrive to Sync all Critical Files Worthy of Backup

Before you can backup anything in OneDrive using File History, configure it so OneDrive syncs everything to your computer:

• (Windows 10 and Windows 7) Choose the files and folders you want to sync to your computer
• (Windows 8.1) Choose the folders and files you want to "Make Available Offline"

Wait for OneDrive to finish syncing all content before continuing to the next step.

Setup a Drive for File History

After you configure OneDrive to sync the content you need, setup a drive to use File History:

Set up a drive for File History

Large, slow drives are ideal for File History, whether they're inside of the computer or connected via a USB on the outside. When you setup File History it should automatically backup all Library folders, OneDrive folders, and other
common Windows folders. If you don't see your OneDrive folders, manually add them.

Once configured, File History will run on the frequency you chose and will backup your OneDrive files if there are changes; File History uses a more intelligent backup process and will only backup if it detects changes. If a file
changes frequently, you'll see many versions, possibly a version every time File History runs, otherwise, you may see the original version if it never changes.

If you lose a file and need to restore it, follow these instructions to restore a file from File History:

Restore files or folders using File History