User case: How do I do a full backup on Windows 10?

“I've been wondering if there is a backup solution that can take a full snapshot or image of Windows 10. When Windows crashes, I have to rebuild the machine from scratch, i.e., install the OS, install updates, drivers, application configurations, accounts, etc., which is very time-consuming. How can I do a Windows 10 full backup?”

Why need to backup Windows 10 fully?

A full backup of Windows is to make a complete copy of all data on PC including applications, settings, personal files and folders, and so on.

Usually, people would install some commonly-used applications and save a lot of important data on the computer. However, various factors such as system crashes, virus invasions, power failures, or operation errors can result in file loss or even the Windows system being formatted. Creating a full backup of Windows 10 keeps the data safe and can recover the original system software after any accident in a neat and fast way.

Top 2 ways to complete Windows 10 full backup easily

You can accomplish a Windows 10 complete backup in any of the following 2 ways.

Way 1. Perform Windows 10 full backup via Backup and Restore

Windows 10 comes with an intuitive and versatile tool, Backup and Restore, that allows you to create a complete backup of your system. You can use it to create a system image backup and backup your data on the desktop, default Windows folders, and system hard drive.

This Windows built-in tool supports performing Windows 10 full backup to an external drive or a network shared folder.

Step 1. Open the Control Panel app, tap System and Security, and then click Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 2. Tap on the Set up backup option from the right panel.

Step 3. Select a backup location and click Next.

Step 4. Select the Let me choose option on the next screen and click Next.

Step 5. Choose the data and partitions that need to be backed up. And, tick the box next to Include a system image of drives EFI System Partition, (C:), Recovery.

Step 6. Then, click Change schedule to set up scheduled backups for your computer according to your needs. After that, hit Save settings and run the backup to start the Windows backup.

>>How to restore a Windows 10 full backup from Backup and Restore

Now that you have the full backup of your Windows 10, you may also want to look into the steps of restoring a full image backup for Windows 10.

Step 1. Likewise, go to the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) screen, and click Restore my files.

Step 2. Click on the Browse for files or Browse for folders button to choose the image backup you want.

Step 3. Determine where you want to restore the backup file and click Restore.

Way 2. Make full backup for Windows 10 with third-party tool

Another option to make a full backup for Windows 10 PCs is to use professional third-party backup software. Typically, professional backup software is more powerful than the native Windows tools, because the software developers will optimize the backup functionality and add new features to attract users.

We recommend you to use CBackup, a tool with amazing backup features. This computer backup software supports backing up computer files and partitions to popular cloud storage providers such as Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. Also, this wizard provides its own cloud storage space - CBackup Cloud, with 10GB of free space and scalable space.

The following is the list of features:

• No limitations on file type and file size.
• Provide a file filter feature to exclude unnecessary files during backups.
• Offer an auto backup feature to perform daily, weekly, monthly, and custom time backups easily.
• Support cloud to cloud backup for Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and FTP/SFTP.
• Offer unlimited versioning control for Windows file backup.
• Support combining cloud storage of cloud drive accounts for free unlimited cloud storage.
• Provide incremental backup for files to help you save cloud storage.

How to use CBackup to complete a Windows 10 backup and restore, here is a complete guide:

Step 1. Click the download button below to install CBackup on your computer.

Step 2. Sign up for a CBackup account for free and log in to the CBackup desktop app.

Step 3. Click on Backup and hit Backup PC to CBackup Cloud.

Step 4. Select your whole computer as the backup source. Click the Start Backup button to begin the backup task.

✍Note: If you want to backup computer to Google Drive or other third-party cloud drives, you should go to Storage > choose the cloud storage service > authorize CBackup to access the cloud storage space. Then, you can pick Backup PC to Public Cloud when creating a new backup task.

>>How to restore a Windows backup using CBackup

You can restore a Windows 10 backup with some simple clicks.

Step 1. Select the backup task, click on the three-dot button, and select Restore.

Step 2. Select Files to choose items for restoration and choose the Restore to original location or Restore to other location option.

Step 3. Then, tap Start Restore.

Wrap it Up

This post describes the two most effective solutions to do Windows 10 full backups.

You can either use the Windows inbuilt tool, Backup and Restore, to fully backup Windows 10 to an external hard drive or employ the professional Windows backup utility, CBackup, to create a Windows 10 cloud backup. You can make a comparison between them and determine which method you might prefer.