Introduction about OneDrive

OneDrive is an online cloud storage service provided by Microsoft, which gives each user 5GB free storage space for automatically backup files to OneDrive, and multiple options for upgrades. OneDrive integrates with Windows 10 and Windows 11 to be the default location for saving files, photos, and other documents and is accessible across multiple devices such as Mac, iPhone, and Android. Microsoft OneDrive auto backup is a great way to protect your data for free.

Now that the 3-2-1 backup strategy is becoming more popular and cloud storage is regarded as a safe backup solution because it can avoid many disasters that may occur on physical storage. Therefore, OneDrive attracts many users for its outstanding performance because it can keep all your files backed up, protected, synced.

Why should I backup files to OneDrive?

Is OneDrive backed up to the cloud? The storage space in OneDrive accounts helps users store files, and automatically backing up folders to OneDrive not only protects data, but also plays a huge role in several aspects like working together:

• Backing up files to OneDrive is a good way to prevent your data from accidentally losing due to hardware failure, malware attacks, and any other unexpected things. If any bad thing happens, you can recover files from OneDrive.
• Once you save files on OneDrive, you are able to access them from any PC, phone, or tablet. Also, you can use the files anytime, even when there is no Internet connection.
• OneDrive gives you an easy way to share docs, photos, videos, and albums stored in OneDrive with friends and family by setting the file to “public.”
• OneDrive works well with Microsoft products. Collaborate in real-time on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files stored in OneDrive.
• Your files are encrypted in OneDrive and it keeps your files private unless you share them. Also, keep important files secured with Personal Vault.

Does OneDrive Automatically Backup Everything?

Actually, OneDrive only backup the files and folders you selected to OneDrive, not everything from your computer to work smart.

Once you set them up at the beginning, you could backup documents, picture, desktop, and other folders to OneDrive automatically in an easier way and these files will be synced across the computer and cloud.

OneDrive only backup the following folders and files automatically after you set it up:

• Important PC folders like Documents, Pictures, Desktop.
• Photos and videos: Automatically save photos and videos to OneDrive whenever you connect a camera, phone or other devices on your computer.
• Screenshots: Automatically save screenshots I capture to OneDrive.

OneDrive will backup the changed part since the last backup, which is the incremental backup. However, to backup everything from your computer to OneDrive, you have to drag and drop all the files into OneDrive folder manually, and then OneDrive will automatically sync these files. But it quite spends much time to get things done.

How to Enable OneDrive Auto Backup on Windows 11/10

Computer users can complete a Microsoft OneDrive automatic backup by moving documents and other files from their locally saved location to the OneDrive folder, a process that requires the help of the OneDrive client. But OneDrive is an unstable cloud sync program, and you can automatically back up files to OneDrive for free with a more powerful second method we offer: CBackup.

Way 1. Auto backup files to OneDrive via OneDrive desktop app

To help users auto backup files to OneDrive in Windows 10, OneDrive offers a desktop app for users to set up an auto backup task on both Windows PCs and Macs. Here are steps to backup computer to OneDrive:

1. Click Start and search for “OneDrive”, and then open it.

2. When OneDrive Setup starts, enter your personal account, or your work or school account, and select “Sign in”.

3. On the “This is your OneDrive folder” screen, select “Next” to accept the default folder location for your OneDrive files. If you want to change the folder location, select “Change location”.

4. You’ll now be prompted to select the folders that you want to sync across the local PC and the cloud. Only the ones that you tick will be available offline. Press the “Next” button to get to the final setup screen which confirms everything is ready to sync.

5. With the OneDrive setup, you can access your cloud storage folder at any time by clicking the "OneDrive" entry in the left pane of File Explorer. This folder has a two-way sync feature, so you just need to drag and drop the files into this folder, OneDrive will automatically sync the files.

☛To set up automatic backup to OneDrive in Windows 10/11:

1. Open OneDrive "Settings".

2. In “Settings”, select “Backup” > “Manage backup” to choose the folder you want to automatically backup to OneDrive on Windows 10.

Way 2. Automatically Backup Files to OneDrive via Free Cloud Backup Service

Besides the official desktop app that OneDrive offers for file syncing, you can also automatically back up files to OneDrive in Windows 10/11/8/7/XP/Vista via a free cloud backup service like CBackup, which is a professional backup and sync service for you to perform OneDrive automatic backup. 

It also allows you to add mainstream cloud storage including OneDrive, Dropbox, and Google Drive, and backup PC files to them easily.

It offers many useful backup settings such as scheduled backup, which allows you to set up an automatic backup task at a specific time, daily, weekly or monthly mode. Thus, you can auto backup your files to OneDrive regularly, saving your configuration time.

And it has its own secure cloud storage called CBackup Cloud (offers 5GB free cloud storage), If you meet any errors when using OneDrive, you can turn to CBackup Cloud directly.

It restores the files you backed up to your local location without limiting the device you use, which means you can not only easily restore your data to the original location, but also restore files to your new computer.

What's more, CBackup is quite easy to use, you can figure it out quickly. When your OneDrive isn't connected or working, you can immediately switch to CBackup to back up your files to OneDrive, and CBackup provides more stable and data-powerful backup and restore capabilities. Let's see how to backup files to OneDrive automatically with CBackup:

1. Download CBackup and create a new CBackup account, and then sign in to the CBackup desktop app.

2. Click "Storage" on the left side, and choose OneDrive, hit "Authorize Now". Then follow the on-screen guide to allow CBackup to access your OneDrive files.

3. Select the "Backup" tab, and then press the "Backup PC to Public Cloud" button to create a backup task.

4. Specify the "Task Name", and choose folders you want to backup to OneDrive. And select "OneDrive" as the target location.

5. You can tap "Settings" at the bottom of the window before starting back up, tick the "Set a backup schedule for automated backup" option, specify the time you want to backup files to OneDrive, and click "OK".

6. Press the "Start Backup" button to auto backup files to OneDrive with CBackup.

With CBackup, you could perform Microsoft Word backup, excel backup, and other file backups easily. Besides, you could even backup your entire computer to OneDrive or other clouds.

How to Automatically Backup Files to OneDrive on Mac

If you don't know how to backup Mac to OneDrive, you can also use the official desktop app on Mac to backup Mac to OneDrive automatically. Follow the steps below to set up automatic backup OneDrive on Mac:

1. Download and install the OneDrive Sync Client for Mac from Microsoft and open it.

2. Sign in to your Microsoft account. When prompted for where this email address is used, click "Personal" or "Work or school".

3. Click “Choose OneDrive Folder Location” to select the folder that you will sync to OneDrive. Select a location for your OneDrive folder and then click “Choose this location”.

4. Choose what you want to sync from your OneDrive folder to your Mac and which folder you want to automatically backup to OneDrive on Mac and then click “Next”. Then, the OneDrive auto backup folder process is completed.

2 Tips about OneDrive Backup More Data for Free

Is OneDrive safe for backup? OneDrive, as a professional data backup destination, does lack security. And the CBackup desktop application mentioned above is perfect for this shortcoming, as one of the most powerful cloud backup services, its security is beyond doubt.

While enabling OneDrive automatic backup, many users still want to strengthen the protection of data in the OneDrive cloud, and hope to increase OneDrive storage without spending money. Don't worry, here are two free tips you need.

Tip 1. Backup Important Files on OneDrive in case of Losing

Though cloud storage is a safe place for your data, there is no guarantee of absolute safety. Chances are that you may accidentally delete your important files or find your files are missing for OneDrive technical issues sometimes. Therefore, it is necessary for you to back up your files on OneDrive to another cloud storage easily and safely with a cloud backup service just in case.

CBackup can help you backup files from OneDrive to Google Drive, Dropbox, FTP/SFTP, and so on with flexible backup settings. What's more, the cloud-to-cloud backup feature of CBackup is totally free! Why not give it a try? To backup OneDrive files to another cloud storage with CBackup, please refer to the steps below:

1. Sign in to the CBackup website or desktop application with your CBackup account. (The following steps are presented as Web-side pages, consistent with client steps.)

2. Under the My Storage tab, add your cloud drive accounts (here are OneDrive and Google Drive), and click “Add”. Then sign in to your account and authorize CBackup to access and manage your files on the cloud.

3. Click on the “Backup Tasks” tab at the left of the page, then, click the “New Task” button. 

4. Name your backup task, click the “Add Source” button to add OneDrive, and click “Add Destination” to add Google Drive.

5. Click “Start Backup” in the lower right corner to backup files from OneDrive to Google Drive.

Tip 2. Expand Your OneDrive Backup Space for Free

Actually, OneDrive only offers 5 GB of storage space for free, which may be insufficient for backing up all your computer or phone data. If you want to protect more data without paying for an advanced plan, you can rely on CBackup to get more free backup space.

CBackup is a professional cloud service that can help you add and merge OneDrive accounts on one platform. Then, with a proper combination, the free space of multiple OneDrive accounts can be combined into bigger backup storage to protect more data.

1. Log in to the CBackup client or website. Click "Storage" on the left side, click the "+ Add Cloud" button, then choose OneDrive and hit "Add". Then follow the on-screen guide to allow CBackup to access your OneDrive files.

2. After adding, all your OneDrive accounts are listed under the Storage tab, and click the "+ Add Combined Cloud".

3. Tick the box next to the cloud storage account that you want to combine. After checking, click on Next > Combine. 

4. Then, you will have a Combined Cloud in your clouds list. You can choose the Combined Cloud as the backup destination to enjoy huge backup space while creating backup tasks by clicking Backup > Backup PC to Combined Cloud.

Both of these free tips can help you feel more secure and save money by enabling OneDrive automatic backup, so try it out now.

Conclusion

To make OneDrive auto backup your files, you can follow the detailed steps above. In addition, don’t forget to backup your important files on OneDrive to another cloud storage with CBackup just in case. It can also help you to set up a OneDrive automatic backup task or choose to exclude or contain certain types of files when backing up with the File Filter feature. 

What's more, it's worth mentioning that many users complain that OneDrive stops syncing for unknown reasons. If you are facing these kinds of issues, you can try to fix the “OneDrive not syncing” problem or find a OneDrive alternative to protect your Windows PC. CBackup is recommended.