What is OneDrive Auto Backup?

Microsoft OneDrive is one location to save all your documents, photos, and videos. It provides 5 GB of storage for free so that you can store your documents, photos, and videos and share them with your friends & family. Storing files on OneDrive frees up a lot of your device’s storage, and helps you take advantage of the powerful file synchronization and auto-backup features.

Why Backup Files with OneDrive Auto Backup?

Regularly backing up files is important for both individuals and businesses. When your files are only stored locally, accidental deletion, laptop theft, virus infection, or other circumstances could lead to significant data loss. Activating the OneDrive Auto Backup feature will give you peace of mind knowing your files are safe regardless of the circumstances. A OneDrive backup can be a lifesaver since you can download your files again and get back your lost data.

OneDrive Auto Backup was previously known as OneDrive Protection. Microsoft launched this feature in 2018 to empower OneDrive users with an automated backup of their critical folders. It is primarily meant to protect our data from ransomware and technical problems (both hardware and software). Ransomware is a type of virus that encrypts and locks the data on your hard disk and asks for a ransom to decrypt it. With Auto Backup, your data is backed up onto the cloud so that you can regain access to it within minutes of disinfecting your PC.

Using OneDrive Auto Backup

Method 1: Using the OneDrive Application

Download & Install OneDrive Application

If you’re using Windows 10 and Windows 11, OneDrive is pre-installed. Therefore, you can skip this step. However, if you or your system administrator had uninstalled OneDrive, you will need to re-download and reinstall it again. Nevertheless, here are the steps:

1. Visit the OneDrive Download page and click on the “Download” button.
2. Once the download of your OneDrive finishes, double-click on the downloaded file to open it.
3. You will get a UAC prompt. Click on the Yes button.
4. Click on the Get Started button.
5. Sign in to your OneDrive account. If your account is protected with 2-FA, you will need to prove your identity by entering the OTP sent to your mobile application or registered phone number.
6. Next, set a location for your OneDrive folder. The default location is C:\Users\User_Name\OneDrive.
7. Click on Next.
8. OneDrive will show a list of special folders on your computer to sync. Select the ones you want to sync with OneDrive.
9. In the next screen, select the option: Let me use OneDrive to fetch any of my files on this PC.
10. Finally, click on Done.

Set Up OneDrive Auto Backup

Now, set up OneDrive to automatically back up your sensitive folders. By default, OneDrive auto backups the Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders.

1. Right-click on the OneDrive icon.
2. Select the Settings option.
3. The Settings window will open.
4. Click on the Sync and Backup tab.
5. Click on the Manage Backup button under “Back up important folders to OneDrive”.
6. OneDrive will display a list of special directories on your computer. For example: Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, and Videos.
7. If a folder is not already backed up, you will see its status as “Not backed up”.
8. Toggle the switch to the ON position (move it to the right) for those folders you want to back up. The status of those folders will automatically change to “Ready to back up”.
9. Click on Save Changes.

That’s it, OneDrive will start backing up your folder. It may take some time, depending on the size of the folder contents and the upload speed of your Internet connection.

How to Stop Auto-Backup for Specific Folders? 

You can confirm the backup status of your folders by repeating Steps # 1-6 in the “Set Up OneDrive Auto Backup” sub-section. The status of the folder should be changed to “Backed up”.

To stop a folder from backing up, toggle the switch to the “OFF” position (move it to the left). It may take some time to update the changes.

Method 2: Using the Settings App

Another alternate way is to use the Settings app to change the OneDrive Auto Backup settings. Again, it is assumed that you have OneDrive pre-installed.

Here’s how:

1. Click on Start, followed by Settings.
2. Click on the Update & Security tab.
3. Click on the Backup section.
4. In the Backup files to OneDrive, click on “Back up files”.
5. Select the folders you want to back up, and then click on Start Back up.

Bonus Tip: Get More Storage to Save Additional Backups

Backups can take quite a significant storage. At some point in time, you will want to free up your storage to store additional backups.

There are three ways to do so:

• Upgrade to a higher plan that offers more storage: OneDrive offers a range of plans to cater to the needs of different individuals and businesses. This is the easiest option to grab additional GBs of storage without deleting any of your data. However, upgrading your OneDrive plan costs additional pennies.
• Delete old backups: You can free up some storage by deleting older backups, especially those created a year ago. However, it all depends on personal needs and personal choices. Some professions and companies may require retaining backups created many years ago.
• Delete Duplicates: Removing duplicates is a time-tested method of freeing up your cloud storage. Over the years, your account may have accumulated hundreds of duplicate documents, photos, and videos while syncing and backing up your multiple devices. Use a browser-based tool, Cloud Duplicate Finder, to dedupe your storage.

Conclusion

In today’s digital age, backing up data can be a lifesaver. OneDrive provides a powerful and automated feature to back up our data and empowers you with rich collaboration features. In the case of an unfortunate disaster, you can regain access to it on the same computer or other devices such as a Mac, tablet, or smartphone. It is a powerful tool to fight data loss due to ransomware, hardware failure, and bad sectors, among others.