After adding photos to your Windows computer, reconnect your File History drive and check that a new backup finishes. An old backup cannot contain photographs taken since it was made.
What you need
A Windows 11 computer with File History already set up, its usual portable backup drive, and the location of your photo folders. This guide maintains that existing backup; it does not set up a new one.
You should also have practised recovering a photo into a separate folder. If you have not, use the recovery guide linked at the end.
1. Pick a moment you will remember
Make the check part of putting new photos onto your computer. For example: After I copy a camera card, I connect the backup drive.
Choose a routine that suits how often your photos change. A quiet month and a week away taking daily pictures need different attention. There is no benefit in a complicated schedule you cannot maintain.
Write the drive name and the photo folders it protects on paper. Note any photos still on a phone, old computer or online account; this backup does not collect those automatically.
2. Connect the usual backup drive
Plug it into the computer. Press Windows key + E, click This PC, and confirm the drive’s name. Use the same drive you used for the working File History setup.
Stop if Windows asks to format the drive or you do not recognise it. Do not create a new backup arrangement merely to clear a warning.
Keep the computer awake while the backup runs. If you have only just downloaded photos from online storage, let those downloads finish first.
3. Run the backup and read the result
Click Start, type Control Panel, and open it. With View by set to Category, choose System and Security, then Save backup copies of your files with File History.
Select Run now. Wait until the run finishes, then check the completed copy time and any error message.
The time should be later than when you added the photos you want protected. If it still shows an earlier day, do not count today’s photos as backed up yet.
4. Check a recent photo and update your note
In File Explorer, find the actual folder containing a newly added photo. Right-click the folder and choose Restore previous versions, using Show more options if needed.
Select the latest dated version, expand Open, and choose Open in File History. Find the new photo and open it from that saved version. Close the preview without restoring over your originals.
Record the date and result beside your backup note. For example: September picnic folder checked; new photo opens from today’s backup. Use your own folder and result.
If you moved your photo folders or started using another location, check that the new location is included. Do not assume an old setup follows every change.
5. Put the drive away and choose the next check
Once the backup has finished, close the photo viewer and drive windows. Use Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media near the clock, select the drive and wait for the safe-to-remove message before unplugging it.
Keep it somewhere you can find again. A computer and its only backup in the same travel bag can be lost together. For important family photos, keep another checked copy in a separate safe location.
Write when you will next connect this drive. Automatic copying only reaches this portable drive when it is available to the computer.
Check it worked
The latest run completed, a newly added photo opens from that backup, and your note records the result. You know when you will repeat the check.
Every so often, recover a small folder to a separate location too. Do this after a major folder change or when you have doubts about the backup.
If you get stuck
Reconnect your drive warning: attach the usual drive and choose Run now. If it remains missing, check the connection before changing settings.
The drive is full: do not manually delete or rearrange File History’s stored folders. Work out how to preserve existing history before replacing the drive or removing old versions.
A recent photo is absent: check that it is downloaded on this computer, in an included folder, and was added before the completed run. Keep the original while you resolve the gap.
Next step
Practise recovering photos with File History.
Sources and date checked
Researched on 9 September 2026 using Microsoft’s reconnect and Run now instructions and File History help. The routine and note examples are editorial suggestions. I have not yet tested this routine on a Windows PC for this guide.