Windows 10: Windows 11 file history has started to ignore ANY hard drive.

Windows 11 Pro, File History has began to ignore any hard drive connected external or otherwise, prior to this windows continued to put all hard drives to sleep even when you were using said drive. upon deeper inspection all drives accounted for by windows and tested excellent condition... smart, surface test and others. read and write to all drives fine... file history claims there is NO HARD DRIVE CONNECTED. INTERNAL WINDOWS SSD OR USB ATTACHED, nothing

:)

 

How to stop File History on the old drive and start File History on a new drive?

I use the external drive
for File History and have a lot of information there. I want to restart the File History process on a new drive and place the previous File History drive off-site.

Please suggest the steps to stop File History on the old drive and start File History on a new drive.

 

File History drive

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community.

I would like to inform you that if your File History drive has been disconnected for too long, or it doesn't have enough space to save temporary versions of your files. To continue saving copies of your files, you'll need to reconnect your File History drive.
Plug in your external File History drive or reselect your network. You can start a backup manually or wait for the next scheduled backup or reselect the drive. Here is the steps:

To manually start a backup

• 
  Open File History by pressing Windows key> type File History
  > Click on File History.
  
• 
  Tap or click Back up now.
  

To reselect your drive

• 
  Open File History by pressing Windows key> type File History
  > Click on File History.
  
• 
  Tap or click Select drive.
  
• 
  On the Select a File History drive page, tap or click your current drive or network location, and then tap or click
  OK.
  

Hope it helps. Let us know if you need more help and we'll be glad to assist.

 

Reconnect your File History Drive

Hi Amma,

You'll see the message Reconnect your File History drive if you have backed up your files using an external hard drive. However, you have the option not to reconnect your external hard drive if you do not want to use it as your back drive.

If you don't want to see the message again, please follow the steps below:

• Right-click on the Start menu.
• Select Control Panel.
• Go to System and Security.
• Click on File History.
• Select Turn Off.

If you want to back up your files again, you can simply reconnect the said hard drive and follow the steps provided on this
link.

Hope this information helps you. In case you need further assistance, don't hesitate to post back.