Windows 10: File History Backup not backing entire contents of a folder

Trying to use File History both a timeline type versioning and also as a full backup. Set up new drive and turned File History on and it worked, but only partly. As one example, a folder on my computer has 61 items in folder. When I go to the backup folder on the new backup device the same folder only has 28 of the files. Looked at size, recently modified, etc. to see any pattern, but can't find any. I've restarted computer, and push backup and it does backup the recent changes, but not the missing files.

:)

 

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

 

Backup These Folders in File History

My Pictures and My Videos folders are inside the My Documents folder. In File History all three folders are listed in the Backup These Folders list. Does this mean that because of this, files in Pictures and Videos are backuped twice? Once when backing up
My Documents and once when backing up My Pictures and My Videos (included in My Documents)

 

How can I include a subfolder under Pictures in my File History backup without backing up the entire Pictures folder?

File history back up files by scanning the computer folder-by-folder. Since this feature is only allowing directory backups, we suggest putting the subfolder in to the root folder to make a backup of it.

Get back to us if you need further assistance.