How to Backup Your Windows 11 to an External Hard Drive

How do you backup your Windows 11 computer to an external hard drive? Windows 11 is our new operating system and it's really important that you know how to backup your computer. The easiest way to backup your Windows 11 computer is to use an external hard drive. You can buy one of these easily from Amazon. Try and get the biggest one you can.
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00:00 Introduction
00:54 External Hard Drive
02:33 How to Backup Windows 11
03:20 Option to Save to Network
04:09 Choose your Own Backup Options
04:38 How to Schedule Regular Backups
05:50 Advice on Where to Store External Hard Drive
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So who am I and what do I do?
I am an IT expert with over 20 years of industry experience across a multitude of different areas. I am the Founder & Managing Director of Integral IT. Our mission is to deliver IT services that bring real value to each and every one of our customers, no matter how big or small.
If you need IT support, we can help. We can help you wherever you are in the world; you just need an internet connection.
Contact Us Today ► [e-mail]
www.integral-it.co.uk/
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If you have any video ideas, or if you'd like me to make a video on anything specific make sure to let me know in the comments below!

[@writehse]

The fact that I'm an IT and need to look this up is crazy, I miss windows 10.

[@johndalton6754]

As an 83 year-old engineer who learned DOS in the 1980s and loved Word Perfect, Lotus 1.2.3 and Netscape Navigator, I absolutely hate Windows 11. I spent several hours trying to figure out how to backup my new Dell laptop (that came with Windows 11 already installed) until I found your illuminating video that showed me the back door into backing it up.

[@bearded365guy]

I love getting messages like this. Thanks

[@stveide1]

But why the HELL is it hidden as a "back door"???? THIS is part of why I've told them to FK OFF and have switched to Apple IOS. REDICULOUS!!! Stop messing with my BRAIN, Microsoft!!

[@life4trinity]

Watching this tutorial to make my transition over to Linux, screw Windows!

[@MovingToAustralia-MikeBentley]

I'm in my late 60s and had spent an hour or more reading Microsoft's convoluted description on how to do this. Found other video's, useless, then this one, and got started in less than a minute! It is now backed up and unplugged, thanks to Jonathan!

[@johnbowles4754]

@@MovingToAustralia-MikeBentley I had been in the same position until I'd seen Jonathan's video and now I'm backing up my pc with clear instructions and I've subscribed 👍

[@buggyduggy2431]

You are the first person out of 40 or 50 people (talking heads) to show a very simple way of doing this. Thanks

[@BelindaMJBrown1]

Truly helpful. I was getting frustrated with the fact that Windows had hidden this functionality in profit of their cloud.

[@WyattOShea]

Thanks for the video man. I had done back ups before on windows 11 but it had been a long time since and recently bought a new hdd as my old one was failing so figuring out how to get to the correct backup (kept taking me to the one drive syncing bit) was frustrating as hell whereas your video was quick and concise on the issue and allowed me to actually do a proper system backup without issue.

[@billfrey5808]

Thank you Jonathan. I searched U tube for this and after many tutorials, found yours. Yours is the most comprehensive as well as easy to follow. You got a new subscriber now. Thanks again!

[@dougscott1023]

Excellent instructions. So frustrating that Microsoft has chosen to conflate "syncing" with "backing up". Your tutorial completely cleared things up for me. Also frustrationg the Microsoft chose to bury the backup utility in the old Control Panel.

[@bearded365guy]

I agree!

[@benzpinto]

because windows wants you to use and subscribe to onedrive

[@mobilephil244]

Microsoft is obsessed with "syncing" - apparently it's what every teenager was born to want to do. It has messed up one drive (use google drive instead) because of this stupid teenage obsession.

[@simonfrederiksen104]

They basically expect everyone to work at microsoft or another IT firm with top notch connection and speeds while "people" in the countryside can just keep hammering away at their manual typewriters, butter churns and axes

[@barrywilson1842]

YOU ARE THE MAN! THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I watched this other bozo for 45 minutes. Having to rewind and play it several times to try to follow his method. It was madness so I just gave up. Then I found you and was able to back up my entire computer in the few minutes that you explained it. YOU ROCK! THANK YOU!

[@davidstuart7035]

Thank you so much! I was getting so frustrated with Windows 11 not letting me to do a backup to my external HD and could not find the option to do it. You made it so easy.

[@maxstreel]

Thank you so much for this. I was searching and found so many other videos talking around the issue instead of explaining and showing how to properly accomplish this task. You rock!

[@51biffo]

Thank you Jonathan. After spending all day trying to work this problem out, your video solved my problem in a matter of minutes.

[@basharleenaa.l.8553]

one of the best technology related explanations I have ever seen online. clear , short , detailed and work well with slow people like me. just subscribed

[@MeWatchMeSee]

This was super helpful, thank you! I appreciate that you speak slowly and the video is very pauseable so steps can be followed.

[@stevebesson9946]

buddy you are a live saver. I have been a mac man for 20 years and this windows 11 is horrible. Microsoft wants full control of every ones data. There is no reason they need to force my data on their servers unless its for devious reasons. Seriously rethinking my purchase. Thanks for the help!

[@kenallanphillips]

Wow. Thanks. This was one of the easiest "How To"'s I have seen in a while. Grateful!

[@BobaT__]

Thank you so much for this. I've been looking all over and couldn't find this exact back up method. You're a life saver and great explanation!

[@ingerlouise]

thank you so much for this! out of all the videos i’ve watched, yours was by far the best and easiest to follow!

[@36ikuto]

Thank you for the tutorial. I was going nuts trying to back up an external hard drive. Love to back up to 3 different places always have a plan you know.

[@user-go1kh1xg3f]

Thank you sooo much...I just spent too long reading people telling me to back up through the back up system. You made this so easy for someone who isn't tech savvy

[@michaelcygan4783]

THANK YOU! I can't believe they made the old Backup and Restore so hard to find. :)

[@robertcurrie9206]

Thanks for a clear description of backing up files.

[@katieleecgctalksmiscarriage]

Just received a replacement laptop under my warranty and needed to figure this out for the first time as I switch laptops! Thanks for making it so easy!

[@hkchurch2811]

Brilliant, so clear and easy to understand! Thank you!

[@darylrowland8868]

I tried ten other videos that were worthless, including the well-capitalized drive manufacturer, and your video was the only one that was accurate succinct and clear. Carry on, good sir!

[@friscoparents3865]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Your video was the ONLY video I was able to find that shows how to exactly backup Windows 11 to an external hard drive! TY TY TY

[@robdrury3359]

thank you great tutorial you were articulate and made it simple to follow I will definitely have no problems backing up now

[@cunningplan96]

This was the easiest to understand video I have seen! Worked a treat so thankyou!!

[@brendancopley929]

This was a brilliantly useful and easy to follow video, thank you so much! You are now my go to IT person. Have subscribed!

[@UnkleAL1962]

thank you I've been trying to figure this out for days! Mine didn't come up with the Microsoft 7 backup choice like yours did but I was able to continue with what did come up! Everything else was spot on and it's backing up at this moment!

[@markparsons195]

Thank you for helping me finally understand the backup process.

[@user-wj6fu6co9j]

Jonathan - thank you so much for preparing this video. Microsoft 11 is driving me crazy! Regarding the backup, the only issue was that when selecting to allow the system to decide what to backup, it did not backup ANY of my documents. So, I did the backup as recommended by the system and then did a second pass with my selected files. Finally, I got everything I need.

[@carolallen]

Thank you so much. I was losing my mind trying to figure out how to set this up without defaulting to OneDrive. So helpful.

[@VICTORIALUKASAVITZ-vs3no]

Thank you Jonathan! I just wanted a simple external backup. Couldn’t find how to do it till I watched this. Success!!

[@AaronNHorvitz]

Thanks! This offers a complete description, and it's easy to understand.

[@NMPIN]

Thank you for the knowledge. I took a year break to learn the new fangled music recording software and settled on the Studio One DAW. The year break has been 6 years now and I have been self medicating with the music and it’s been the most sustained creative streak I’ve ever had. But I have only just started mastering the 539 songs into albums which is another learning curve with Distrokid and mastering for streaming and then my computer starts making a weird noise and I’ve been thinking I have the files on my external hard drive for the DAW but thousands of hours of settings would be lost... and by the looks of this rambling comment I may have been about to lose it, now I’m back in control 😎

[@safpsy]

Unbelievably easy and helpful. Thank you so much!!!

[@sja_101]

Thank you for keeping it simple. You just made my day a lot easier :)

[@abrahammathew6989]

Thank you. Wasted couple hours trying to backup and then I came across this video on youtube. Awesome - simply explained. Made my day.

[@deedavalan]

Thanks for your video! Took me quite a while to figure out. But only took a few minutes after watching your video. Great help!

[@EricaStrada]

Thank you so much for this! It was super simple and easy!

[@georgebogdewiecz1314]

I've been a PC user since their inception. Yes - I'm old, but very tech savvy. The biggest issue I had with something that should be so simple during 3 decades of computer usage?: The backup of windows 11 to an external drive. Searched online All Over and found the best answer how to do that: Mr. Jonathan Edwards and this video. If you're searching for an answer how to backup WIN 11 to an external drive, go no further. Best process explanation on the internet. Thx Jonathan!

[@nomadicwolf6132]

Top notch tutorial! Thank you for showing how to do it & what options there are along the way for advanced users. 😁

[@user-tw8qk7jn5u]

Thank you so much. I spent hours trying to figure this out. Really appreciate you posting this video.

[@user-vl2fc3qq3u]

Thank you for your simple, easy to follow (and understand) instructions!!!

[@barbarawarren9510]

Hi Jonathan ~ Can't thank you enough for this super-clear and helpful walk-through to backing up my computer. You're the best computer guy on the internet, hands down. Rock on!!

[@timeenuf4200]

Thank you for clear instructions. Just what I needed.

[@SpiritintheSky.]

Thank you very much, Mr Edwards. That made it very straightforward, as your videos invariably do, thanks to the great care you obviously take. (Your diction is very good, too.)

[@robrob4075]

The video title says it all. Very well explained. So easy to follow your instruction. Clear Voice and great tempo in explaining the steps.

[@grahamthwaites2457]

I have subscribed now. Absolutely clear, concise and spot on! Thank you

[@vb_muc2035]

Thank you so much!!! I was looking for this option so long!

[@lia5416]

There are so many videos with comments saying "oh this helped so much" when the video did not help AT ALL, so this video was a nice surprise! Thank you :)

[@DagmarKoenig-cx6ec]

Thank you, Jonathan! Your video instructional on windows 11 external drive backup was very helpful and so easy to follow. Much appreciated! Cheers, Dagmar

[@GasStationKnives4Ever]

Thank you so much. Spent way too much time trying to find the answer on my own. Shame on you Microsoft for burying this feature. Must be because they want you to increase your OneDrive storage plan.

[@tonywoodison]

Thanks Jonathan found your back up information easy to follow while actually doing at the same time. great tutorial

[@Dino6983]

Plain and simple, thank you !!

[@user-mu9yv1hb4n]

Appreciate the clear and concise explanation. Backing up now!🙂

[@gsr4079]

thanks for this. easy and straight forward. watched once last week, ordered a external hard drive from Amazon and watching again now. back up is in progress. something is wrong with my windows application so I have to reinstall it - which means wiping the hard drive. at least now I have a back up. next video I will look for is how to get the data from the external drive back on the computer. left a like and will will subscribe. thanks again.

[@ruislipman1]

Clear instructions & easy to understand, many Thanks indeed.

[@joanned951]

Awesome, thanks so much. Your video is great and was easy to follow. I was so frustrated trying to figure out Microsoft!

[@jamieharland9080]

Nice work so easily I did it as I was watching and I have a long-term memory but for now, in real-time I am slow but nailed it! cheers for making it so explainable !!

[@onlythewise1]

thanks for pronouncing words so well to be heard correctly plus the way to back up

[@annechisnall3353]

Great instructions, easy to understand. Thank you

[@CKfromACTOZ]

Thank you. I do appreciate your plain english descriptions of what to do.

[@payusavisit3482]

Very simple and straight to point 👉 thank you very much for the time put together to make this helpful video 📹 still works for me as of today 25.11.2023 on my hp envy 17 laptop 💻 watching from France 🇫🇷

[@nomadicwolf6132]

Excellent resource, wonderfully simple & concise. Thank you!

[@victoriawalton-price9180]

Thank you! This was a wonderful tutorial!

[@Willow.9765]

This video was very helpful. I read a few information articles on the website of the company that made my external hard drive and ended up feeling confused. Your video made things super simple. Thank you.

[@halimech1]

great video. suddenly got paranoid about my laptop breaking so I'm backing it up. great explanation

[@nomihoch]

very clear I wish it had come up when I was searching this info it would have saved a lot of time looking to that option hidden under control panel . Seeing it explained a lot and reassured me that i backed op correctly

[@natashataylor3092]

This was so helpful and very easy to follow! Thank you. 💓

[@saeralsaer5652]

Did you try it ....Inget stop efter 97% buckup

[@topaz3583]

thank you for you Help. its nice to listen to your Video its not stressful which make my life easier. I didn't realize any of this until I saw your Video. now my pc info will be safe.

[@AustralianDude1]

Thanks Jonathan, you save the day. Following your advice and video it worked. Thank YOU

[@claryfisher8725]

So helpful and clear, thank you so much.

[@davidbertanzetti4290]

Your video was absolutely perfect. It was easy to understand and follow step by step.

[@richardgauthier181]

Thank you for making it so easy to understand! 👍

[@Aquafina____]

Thank you for this information. I really needed this.

[@bellabear653]

Great video, all the other videos on this subject are about continuing back ups through the cloud, most people don't want this they want a single back up created once every few months or whenever something new gets put on their lap top. Nice job, I will subscribe to show my support.

[@gordonmacgregor7762]

Hi Jonathon. As someone who recently experienced a catastrophic computer crash and lost a lot of data, I found your video very clear and helpful. Having learnt my lesson I intend to set the backup for my new computer as you illustrated. I noticed however, that during the process there was an item to restore a failed computer using this backup. Have you, or are you able to demonstrate this next critical step? Many Thanks

[@AUM_3000]

Thank you for your effort. I was thinking for nearly 2 months about which backup software I should find to do this backup job. I admit this video well help me a lot. My windows 11 hard drive is about 👉250 GBs👈 ..Imagine how big is my data. It takes me around 2-3 days to setup windows and other applications. All I can say is THANK YOU very very much.

[@alanslavin2316]

Thanks. Great video, found after I had spent several hours trying to find how to do this.

[@danamccarthy7437]

Thankyou! Easy to follow instructions.

[@bykristenmclark]

Thank you for this tutorial. I was getting so stumped at how to get around the automatic OneDrive option.

[@paulmaybury5700]

Thank you that was plane to follow how to backup your pc to ex hard drive😊

[@Elevenzies]

Thank you so much!!! Your tutorial was perfect.

[@darrenbarber791]

Fantastic instructions, so many thanks 😊

[@adamhopkins998]

thanks pal made it so easy to follow great work

[@iaslam88]

Thanks for the great backup tutorial!

[@maggiebrimson9957]

Thank you Jonathan....the only video that was clear and easy for a numpty like me ! x

[@trinhk]

Thank you for the video, that's excellent. If you could share another video to walk us through the restoring process from the image backup, that would be great.

[@Budfrog23]

Thanks for this Jonathan - I've been a bit lazy about backing up my OS & programs though most of my data is safe(ish).

[@Flaccidtetris]

Thanks for the guide! You explained it very clearly :)

[@nancyrobinson9448]

Thank you very much, very helpful! Saved calling an IT expert!

[@TuanAnhTPBQ]

Thank you! Straight to the point, saves us viewers a lot of time.

[@shawnflossy]

Thank you! Windows 11 was really hiding the setting. I was so confused. Thanks for your help

[@penbeatssword7350]

Thank you!! The official 'back up' option was making me feel like I'd lost my mind!! 🤣🤣

[@TNtoolman]

Just bought a Western Digital "My Passport" hard drive and followed your instruction... PERFECT! Thanks so much for posting this Jonathan, you made my life much easier...

[@margueriteadams1457]

Great job. Your are a fantastic instructor. Thank you.

[@SoItGoesCAL34]

Thanks! I went to Control Panel but then I had to do a search on Backup and voila there it is :)

[@elvismanrocks]

This was a perfect video! very well done!!!👍

[@ZenTeaNow]

Oh so clear and useful. And I love your accent! Thanks so much!