The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will no longer support the creation of new backups via File History.
If you're a fan of Microsoft's in-house backup solution called "File History", we might have some bad news for you. Build 16212 for Windows 10 reveals that Microsoft is neutering File History with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, as build 16212 no longer includes the option to start a new backup.
@h0x0d on Twitter has also found references to dialog popups which tell the user that File History is no longer supported. Starting with the Fall Creators Update, File History will only be able to restore old backups that were created with File History prior to the feature being killed.
If you're someone who uses another backup solution, then this news won't be much of a concern to you. If however, you do use File History, then you might have to start looking for a new backup solution soon. It's possible that Microsoft is working on a new backup feature internally, but we haven't heard anything about that as of yet.
Do you use File History? Let us know in the comments.
Reader comments
Microsoft may be killing File History with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
I loved File History. It made it easy to keep my wife's laptop backed up and I was able to restore old versions of anything she needed. Does anyone know of something similar available?
This must be a joke. I use this every day as a backup feature that's thankfully built into Windows. I don't want to have to go third party for yet another feature i need.
I used File History on Windows 7 and was pretty good. Now I used it on Windows 10 and it was somehow messy. It gets really annoying if you want to set up more detailed. Also there were some issues with the file references. Nothing big, it still works great, but I think there are a lot of reasons they are going to improve it. Or rather replace it by something completely new.
Isnt this what Timeline is for? https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-announces-timeline-windows-10-f...
I'm a user of File History and have been thankful for it's presence within Windows. Recently, the hard drive failed on my mother's notebook and if it wasn't for the fact that I had set File History on her device to save to a backup drive connected to my network, all her documents and files would have been lost. I also back up my own three personal devices to this same external hard drive connected to my network. I am not in favour of purchasing and installing third-party software as this can be expensive for a household.
Isnt this what Timeline is for? https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-announces-timeline-windows-10-f...
I use CrashPlan on all of our office computers, but still a rather annoying move by Microsoft unless there's a replacement on the way (OneDrive integration possibly?)
I don't think file History is that important, they could make it's replacement though. A better one.
It would be a blow to lose it. Surely if Microsoft want to protect their customers, an integrated backup system is almost as important as windows defender in protecting data.
I use this feature a lot, this news is frustrating if it's true
Well, we will need to see what Microsoft comes up with as a replacement - if any.
I am not using File History myself
but I have recommend it a lot of "regular" users.
Add an external drive, dedicate it to file history, keep it connected and you are done.
More or less. But hey, it is something and it does not get in the way of the workflow of regular users.
The three only reasons Microsoft would remove File History (for now) I could think of are:
a) It's Preview software anyway. Who knows what and why.
b) Microsoft has something better which still needs to see the light of the day publicly.
c) Microsoft wants to "encourage" people to switch to OneDrive all the way.
Remove "File History" and thereby twist customer's arm a little
bit to subscribe to OneDrive (services).
Well, we'll see what Microsoft has to say when it the fall update is due.
If c) should become true, Microsoft might face some harsh reactions.
Not that they would care or anything, they are very experienced hoe to deal with adverse situations they themselves have created in the first place.
.
Afaik, OneDrive-integration relies on a new file system driver, which is an extension point usable by other functions. Maybe they are reinventing File History along those lines. Maybe, they are just cutting. In the current form, it's simply too shabby as a backup solution, and it's definitely lacking as a version control, including deep knowledge about differences. Also, it was never clear how storage spaces fit into it.
It's my "backup manager"! :(
I'm using a NAS server for backups and I'm using File History.
It's not a really big deal loosing this feature because there's a lot of good solutions to pick, but I would prefer to keep it.
I use this on 1 pc, 2 laptops, and 3 tablets. However there are a few problems with file history. It uses a ton of storage for files that have not actually been modified. They better have a suitable replacement ready to go for this.
One of the better features of Win10....and it works. I have my HP X360 set to wirelessly back up all my relevant folders like pics, docs, etc. every 30 minutes to a HD attached to my WIFi router. Love it!
I use it all the time! Especially because i dont want to get too technical and spend extra money. J just plug in my 2tb Seagate and start file history. Defender even gives me reminders when I've not backed up for a long time. And restoring files is easy too. I really hope they have a better alternative or i would be doomed.
Microsoft stupid decision #47
Isn't 16212 the broken release that slipped out of Devops?
Why though? Like, just why?
It's a cool feature, but I never used it.
I us it all the time at work. Has saved me number of times.
It was my primary windows 10 backup. :(
I have done without backup ever since there was Live Mesh, which has gone through Skydrive and now is OneDrive. A device can be reset and all essential data is in the cloud, why would one need backup functionality.
Hopefully you don't accidentally delete, or some malicious software purposely encrypt or delete all your files. You'd be ******.
This would only be true for file system integration as show @Build, which is why I'm highly sceptical about this feature.
OneDrive has versioning for all Office file types. True, I wouldn't want to lose all my jpg's. Let's see what Msft comes up with. If they will have version support for even more file types, then that will shine a light. I would also expect the bin to become cloud based instead of device based.
We live in interesting times.
What does this mean for system images and full backups?
No alternatives before killing? Hopefully its not that half assed timeline feature thats coming soon.
Nooooo! Why do they do this? I'd like to hope they have a dank replacement that would be better.... but something tells me it didn't exist it will mirror their current trend: it will not be backwards compatible, it will include a subset of the features in File History, they will add new features that aren't complete, and will not add all the necessary features to make it a whole product
Terrible decision, if true. File History is a fantastic feature, and was one of the big reasons that I switched to Windows 8 back in the day.
I hope they are simply replacing this with a similar feature by another name. Apple has made a brand out of Time Machine, and it would be downright irresponsible for Microsoft to not provide its users with a comparable solution, or to try and milk it for OneDrive subscriptions.
Yes, yes and yes. So easy to set up. I get all my relatives and friends with little PC knowledge to buy an external hard drive, select it in File History and make sure they keep all important files in Library folders. So damn easy!
I would have to think they're replacing it with something else. Backups is a pretty important feature to not be built in.
I used to use it. Now I back things up through OneDrive (documents/images/the kind of the stuff I might want available on multiple devices) and a NAS media server. File History was a solid option, though.
So in the Fall Creator's Update, how it feels to chew five gum?
I'm not a fan of File History, but it's the only backup option available free in Windows (apart from the old Windows 7 image backup, which I don't use). Microsoft keeps introducing new backup features just to dismiss them a few years later... This is both sad and frustrating... I hope they come up with a new and stable backup tool for the next 10 years at least.
This is not a bad thing. Images are the way to go, which I miss from Win 7... you can still use it in 10 but I don't recall being able to restore the entire PC from the image, however you can mount the image and pick / choose anything you want
I have four drives in my workstation, imaging those is nigh impossible. To give you an idea of what they do: Primary SSD drive is for the OS and 'hot' data, I then have two drives that are sync'd to each other. I then have a Cache SSD/Version Control drive for any changes to the primary data drive. Total storage requirements for the rig is 7Tb (excluding data on the cache drive).
So how would I create an image for each drive? Imaging is great for the OS drive but not backing up data drives.
If those are your requirements, you should be choosing a more robust solution that File History. Something like Symantec or something that can do full, incremental, and differential or something like that.
The system is more than robust for my requirements and I have sufficient redundancy built into my disaster recovery plan to offset any deficiencies that may occur. This is an inconvenience for any changes that I'm sure I can overcome, but since the NAS natively supported the MS method there was little need to review third party solutions (which are damned expensive). Plus I have had a lot of experience with Symantic and other enterprise back up solutions and they all have their flaws and glitches especially when you're dealing the mix of Hot/Warm/Cold data I'm dealing with that MS's method handled without much hassle made it so useful without doing tonnes of testing/tweaking configuration files.
Sure I use it. Key feature...
Why such move !
Doesn't Timeline supersede this anyway?
It'd be great if they brought back the old backup method of making an image of your Windows install. That would actually be useful. I've got no reason to use File History as all of my documents are already stored in OneDrive.
hmm... As far as I know, OneDrive only keeps ONE copy of a file. So what if you inadvertently update a file wrongly, then OneDrive updates its copy. Now what do you do to recover that previous version of that important file? With File History, it is EASY to recover.
oops! how you delete a reply?
This is frustrating as I use this feature as I back up to my NAS with it. Looks like I'll have to investigate the NAS's native back up solution now.
I use File History. I also think it is a great way to undo most ransomeware work, and have the latest backups versions of all your files.
You would think that with WannaCry and the increase of similar viruses that encrypt your data, having a simple backup solution as a part of Windows is essential? So hopefully, this is not a case of "spring cleaning" at Microsoft, but rather an indication they are working on something new and better.
I sincerely hope there will be a replacement solution because this is what I use to backup my Surfaces to a dedicated PC.
I use it and backup my systems to my NAS without any intervention at all... It just works and I don't worry about having to copy files over like I have to do at work with OneDrive.
I could bet the reason for dropping it, if MS ever gives one, is that it was not used by enough users to maintain the feature. As we all know, MS never learns from the past and makes the same illogical choices over and over again.
Think of WiFi Sense, it was an awesome feature. Friends of mine could just come to me, and my new WiFi was ready to use for them. But no, MS did not promote it and obviously not a lot of users utilized it, so they decided to simply scrap it. Same should be true here, the build in backup is not really brought to the forefront for the users to really know about.
I really miss the Wi-Fi Sense, which is quite nifty and convenient feature that automatically enables Wi-Fi when the device is within the favorite geofence area.
I still can't fathom why they kept doing this when the feature holds so much potential. Just killing feature just because not enough people use them. This makes people upset so much especially when there isn't even a replacement ready.
Yeah, MS' most urgent need of change in their company structure is their broken marketing and stick to their guns.
@radde that's why solely relying on telemetry is not a good idea. Which appears to be what Microsoft is doing...
Exactly, they have all of that data on user behavior through their telemetry, but make rushed decisions on that data, instead of for example asking those users, that do use features - which are underutilised - what they like about them, or ask loudly those not using them to come forward to tell them why they are not using it.
I mean, there is so much great feedback in the so called feedback hub, but rarely do I see MS making smart decisions based on that feedback.
I think I've used it like 3 or 4 times in the past. Mostly using "Windows 7 Image Backup" (there's shortcut in the settings). Much prefer that.
No, it isn't shadow copy. I, for instance, have a media server box on my network. I told file history to use it. So now, even if my box dies, the file history will still have a history of changes to files that I can restore from. I can get a version for each hour. It is EASY to restore from.
Actually, it does use shadow copies. Shadow copies for one disk can reside on another disk in another machine. Heck, even across the planet. Otherwise, I completely agree with the rest that it's ridiculously easy and intuitive to use.
Yeah, File History is both a backup and Shadow Copies at the same time. It's quite simple to use and even easy to setup really. It only needs a UX change and more obvious to access, since at the moment it's pretty much hidden which leads to the low amount of people using it and let alone knowing it even exists.
Microsoft seem to forgot to market this wonderful feature. Apple marketed their own backup and file versioning solution called Time Machine, thus many average Mac users I know use it even up to this day. It was one of the feature that I was envy from OS X until File History came with Windows 8. Not as fancy looking but it does the job very well and the UI isn't even bad at all, very File Explorer-like familiarity and feels like navigating with Photo Gallery with its carousel UI.
I was thinking shadow copy was something different. I thought Microsoft did something a long time ago about not allowing users to modify certain files in certain locations that might screw up the OS in particular for other users using the same machine. So sounds like this question was about something else.
I think you're thinking of folder redirection, which is also still very much in play, and will probably remain for many years to come, even as applications become more containerized (the redirection will just happen inside the container for those apps that attempt to write data to system/program folders directly).
Is the the same as shadow copy?
like apple, they promoted time machine features, so anyone knows its there, while this one is just hidden so only the geeky kinda person know
Noooo !!!!!
Probably being removed due to "lack of use" by consumers. Problem is, most consumers didn't know it was there because Microsoft hasn't made it known to people. It's called marketing, which Microsoft doesn't seem to understand. I believe this is one feature that if advertised properly would have been used heavily by consumers and Enterprise alike.
I agree, it's always been quite hidden, which is probably why most people never heard about it. They should feature it more prominently and maybe give it a facelift instead of removing it entirely if they don't plan for a replacement with the Fall Creators Update.
Highly doubt enterprise would use it. No centralized control? Definitely nowhere near as robust as enterprise backup suites.
This is the problem with Microsoft seriously. They tend to introduce good stuff but mostly don't ever marketing them very well to the masses, even readers here in Windows Central, who we would assume knew more MS stuff didn't even knew some of these things even existed.
File History is no enterprise-grade or powerful backup solution, but it's a built-in Windows feature that is really simple to setup and use that it should be great for most people. Sadly, backing-up is something that most computer users don't realised how important it is.
I really hate when they just simply resort to killing features because of lack of users, instead of fixing something, improving or simply letting people know it exist and how it helps them. If they want to kill it, better have a complete and better replacement ready, not "coming soon" that is half-baked and likely won't be on-par.
Guys, i think it will just be moved to the new 'Timeline'.
This guy gets it.
My thoughts exactly, kinda silly that even the author of this article didn't think of that.
Good point, actually, I really hope you are right.
Maybe, but isn't the new Timeline feature is meant to reopen apps and documents of their earlier snapshots/version? File versioning isn't a backup solution, but it's a way to track specific file changes which aren't what backup does. Backup is to have an additional separate copy of same files usually on separate storage for safe keeping. So when in the case of failure, you can recover those files because they are not stored on your primary drive.
Timeline feature is more of apps and its associated documents history that allows you to re-open them from the previous session. Its not like File History where you can restore file or directory/folder without any associated apps. The UX of Timeline doesn't seem to be designed as a file backup solution. Timeline feature seems like a session and file versioning
Yes, but a file versioning requires those versions to be saved somewhere, so perhaps you could just access the timeline for any particular file.
Differential sync is rolling out on OneDrive.
Frig sakes Microsoft, got any good news for a change?
File History has saved my life a few times, I'd be very disappointed to see it go - unless there is a good replacement, that is. If there isn't, then removing all built-in backup features is a bad move.
The old system image backup and Windows Backup solutions that date back to Windows 7 should still be fully intact. They require a bit more setup, but are also a decent bit more powerful.
What is wrong with these Microsoft people. It works great. File history is intuitive, fast, easy to use. .it seems like anything they make that is good, they kill. Silverlight, people hub, Windows Phone itself. Kinect. And the list seems to go on.
No it is not intuitive at all. If it was my mother and sister would use it. First of all i would have to explain them that it exists, then how to set it up, then how it works. As you can see these are too many steps. Result: They never use it. And that's the problem with desktop stuff, it is all too complicated for regular users. That's why the app model is so successful. Apps are easily understood.
An intuitive solution would be: enabled by default, no setup, and a visual hint nearby a file or folder (perhaps a column or icon or text) that with 1 click asks you to which version you want to revert. It should be simple as that.
A visible column in File Explorer with the number of revisions available would work.
Never used it (or even knew that it existed in the first place).
To restore any deleted or file with mutiple revisions, all you had to do is right click on a file or folder and select Restore previous version.
On the rare occasion I've needed it, It was quicker than restoring from backup. But most of the time, it was for Word documents so I'll have to get in the habit of using Office or OneDrives Version History.
Yes I use it for the family Pcs, it is so easy to explain and convenient
I use this, time to look for something else
I use file history for several years now at work. I find it very useful because you can quickly restore a single file from a few hours ago without restoring a complete backup. Hopefully they come with something likewise.
Oh noooo ! This is a very bad news ! FIle History is my main backup solution. It's so easy to setup and to use ! Microsoft should do replace this with another inhouse solution.
The last time I tried file history, it kinda worked BUT the solution added an extra name "UTC" in EVERY file, photos, video, etc.
It worked fine because it never duplicated my data. Hope they make a better and easier to use version of File History.
If you restore files via the File History UI, the "UTC" part is removed.
Looks like you were restoring manually through the backup-target drive. You could use the built-in dialog to restore files that only show them by name without timestamps in the filename.
That's the beauty of File History. It's not like the old Windows backup system that had a proprietary backup format that was hard to use. Having it accessible on the drive without the need for software is great! Give it another shot!
Ok now windows central knows what new article they should make, 3rd party file history programs.and fast😅😅😅
Crashplan is the answer. It ostensibly a cloud backup service, but you can use it with local storage, or your own backup servers (e.g., a friend's computer). It's also free, if you're not backing up to Crashplan's cloud.
I use File history for backing up my Visual Studio projects and my webserver (Sites, app API's and SQL) backups which are in my OneDrive. I would really miss that function, but think there will be another backup option in future builds...
I hope so, even just for the average consumer who may end up on Windows 10 S. AFAIK there's no decent, major backup solution in the store yet
Use a proper code repository
File History isn't the best option for Visual Studio projects. There are more efficient alternatives out there that are free and will integrate directly into Visual Studio while making it easy to revert to prior versions from within Visual Studio. One such solution is TortoiseSVN. If you're a developer, you should really be checking out a proper version control. Take a look at https://tortoisesvn.net/ and see for yourself. It's free, even for commercial use. It's also quite simple to use.
You should use visual studio online for a lot of that stuff. It's free for small groups
I think for your needs, isn't it better to use proper code repository such as Git? Though backing it up on OneDrive works, its requires more effort and you don't have versioning afaik.
I too use File History to backup my workspace projects. Also helps when I move job to job and can fallback on old code I wrote. I don't want these type of files in onedrive so file history was great. When I moved between surface devices, using file history to quickly restore those files has been helpful. I can't imagine why they would do away with this solution.
Where does this leave Windows 10S users, how do they backup their files. Even if a Win32 goes to the store via Centennial I doubt it has access to the full file system and features like shadow copy etc.
No
yes no...
Maybe
That's quite a big one and a surprise. Proves to people anyway it's not just W10M that loses features.
I'd hope there will be an alternative rather than resorting to paid or harder to use (for the average consumer) free products.
If this is a push towards OneDrive then it's a miscalculation because OneDrive is for sync and not backup. I doubt its that though since MS should know the difference.
It's ironic that the image backup they've been trying to get rid of since Windows 7 still seems to work for creating AND restoring yet this is being killed off in one fell swoop for new backups
Oh, please not OneDrive as a file history replacement. That'll be a disaster. It's always easier to restore from a local backup. Just imagine a person installing a fresh ISO install and then updating the OS, drivers, apps and on top of that downloading backups from OneDrive. RIP poor broadband connections. Lol.
They definitely should not position OneDrive as a backup solution. It's a cloud drive that syncs between PCs ans they finally seem to be getting it right. I agree it could be a disaster if they tried it
There's no reason why Onedrive cannot do both... sync and backup.
It already does that in Mobile.
Well, it does. But it's really slow. I've got about 8-10Mbps upload with
Microsoft is rolling out Differential Sync, Files on Demand and other features to OneDrive and if they add any of the Business backup features or combine WIndows 10 backup file history to OneDrive, it could be where they're headed.
Does Windows still have Windows Backup?
Edit: So I checked and Windows Backup still exists in production, not sure about Insider Rings. Also kind of surprised that this got voted down... did I say something wrong? Simply pointing out a baked in backup system may already be in place (again, not sure if its being removed), so I'm not sure how that ticked somebody off.
I don't think so.
Windows 7 Backup & Restore is in 16199 (Fast Ring)
Yeah, though cloud storage service can be used a backup solution, its primary function is mostly for syncing between devices which somehow got a similar benefit of as a backup.
Still actual local backup is still great for many cases since it doesn't rely on internet connectivity, thus you have always access and a mostly faster way to restore files. It also allows you some flexibility to keep the backup drives stored somewhere safe that you can always retrieve anytime. Not to mention, having another local backup is always better than relying on everything into one basket. File History isn't even that hard to setup and using it is quite simple, it only needs a proper marketing and updated UX.
They are not stupid, uploading backups to OneDrive takes way too much time.
Its the new ms, they are that stupid. They focus on their cloud offering above all else, and have taken away features that make much more sense locally.
They're rolling out Differential Sync, Files on Demand and other features to OneDrive.
OneDrive right now is not a backup solution because it's simply doesn't offer solid backup features. But they could expand on the current syncing and storage features to also make it a decent backup solution. I mean online backup is the best option for regular consumers imho, and OneDrive already being integrated into the OS would be an obvious vehicle for integrating online backup into Windows.
It would need to work more like Azure Backup Vault, but at a price affordable to consumers with multiple devices. If they could bundle it with Office 365 home that would be nice
The problem with cloud backups is that it requires the internet, thus when you somehow lose internet access or simply have bad internet connectivity, it affects the effectiveness of such backup solution.
Don't get me wrong though, I love OneDrive and I do use it a lot and acting like a "backup", but it's not a proper backup since its usually promoted as where you should store your files by default (yes user don't have to), so that means when you accidentally delete the file or want to restore the previous backup, it just doesn't exist at all. Thus it's not a real backup at all. File History isn't even exactly difficult to setup and use
Yeah, I'm sure that cloud storage will back up my 4K video of our latest product over my 3G card with only 1 signal bar.
Local backup is a must for many of us.
OneDrive isn't a solution for me, I have nearly 8Tb of data backup on my PC at any one time (RAW Video and Photographs). So this is why I relied on it especially in a clean version control history.
if they're going to be replacing this with some stupid cloud storage option, would simply NEVER use it. That'll be one of the first garbage I disable on my Surface Pro. Not only would it be mediocre slow, it'll be stupidly compromising on privacy. Screw that skynet cloud sh*t, local SSD FTW!
One drive is for file backup, history is file backup. They are the same thing except one drive is constant where file history only runs at certain times.
never used it
same
So I thought too until one day where it saved me from losing years of work. In the upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, something gut mucked up in the transition from SkyDrive to OneDrive, with the original SkyDrive files not migrating over and getting overwritten instead. Had it not been for File History, I would've lost everything. This news of File History going away makes me uneasy.
It's one of the worst ideas Microsoft has had in YEARS. File History is a great tool.
STOP TAKING FEATURES AWAY, MICROSOFT! WTF?!
I'm sure there will be alternatives. But file history is redundant with cloud storage. It's just not needed. The above scenario doesn't make complete sense. But you should be more than fine going forward.
Except I'm not paying MS for cloud services to back up my 3 TB HDD, that's not cheap.
File history doesn't backup a full hard drive either. Windows backup will still backup your full 3 TB hard drive if you have the space. Soo yea you're still good.
Unless you use a cloud storage that versions the file for you, it and file history is not the same
Not redundant at all. This allows you to set up an external hard drive and do version control. Cheap and easy way of keeping snapshots of changes of development program files. You can set it to keep changes, hourly, daily etc. It has saved me countless times. I can't believe Microsoft is gonna get rid of this without offering an alternative. This isNOT just a backup solution.
But everyone on the planet doesn't have reliable internet connectivity 24x7. If you depend on cloud you'll need that.
I don't have 24/7 internet connectivity, i have you use my mobile. Never ever had a problem needing old files. I don't even have to worry about saving files to a certain place anymore. A single Cloud folder handles everything. You're never going to please everyone on the planet and they wouldn't remove something unless probably 1% of users used it.
Cloud storage is a false dictomy as it is no use without fast internet access You can't back up a 2GB file on a bad 3g connection, but file history will do it automatically.
Many companies also don't allow cloud storage of confidential material.
I use it on all my pc's and on many of my clients. It's a great option for homes and small business. Microsoft is ******* stupid to axe it.
Barely ever used it either, just tried it a few times then forgot about it. Do most of my backups using FreeFileSync as I can select specific directories I want to keep in sync between my Surface Pro, external SSD and MicroSD card storage, will soon be using its new Cloud sync function to sync to my NAS. Then every now and then, I use Windows image backup to backup my entire Surface Pro's state.