How to Back Up and Restore Windows 11 with Windows Backup

Windows Backup is Microsoft’s built-in way to back up key parts of your Windows experience and make a new or reset PC easier to restore.

It is not a full disk-image backup, but it can protect important folders, settings, Wi-Fi information, and the list of many installed apps.

What you need

Windows Backup works best with a Microsoft account because the backup is associated with that account. File backup uses OneDrive, so make sure you have enough available cloud storage.

Back up your Windows 11 PC

Open Windows Backup from Start.
Sign in with your Microsoft account if prompted.
Review the folders you want backed up to OneDrive.
Review settings and preferences that Windows can remember.
Confirm the backup.

You can also review related options under Settings > Accounts > Windows backup.

What Windows Backup can restore

When you sign in with the same Microsoft account during Windows setup, Windows can offer your saved backup. Depending on what was backed up, it can restore:

OneDrive-backed files and folders
Personalization and Windows settings
Wi-Fi information
App pins and app information

Desktop applications are not copied as complete installed programs. Windows can help you identify or reinstall supported apps, but traditional Win32 applications may still need manual installation.

Use a second backup for important data

Cloud backup is useful, but irreplaceable files should not exist in only one place. Consider keeping a second copy on external storage or another trusted backup location.

If you are preparing for a reset, repair, or new-PC migration, run Windows Backup first and verify that OneDrive has finished syncing before continuing.