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Your first backup

The quickest setup protects your personal folders with sensible automatic defaults. You do not need to understand every retention or scheduling option before beginning; the wizard explains the few decisions that affect where the data goes and what is included.

Before you start​

Connect the external drive you want to use, or make sure your network destination is reachable. Avoid using the same physical disk that contains the original files.

Before opening the wizard, ask two simple questions:

  • What would be painful or impossible to recreate? Documents, photos, personal videos, source code, financial records, and creative projects usually belong in the answer.
  • What failure should this copy survive? If the answer includes failure or theft of the PC, choose storage outside that PC.

The first run may need roughly as much free destination space as the selected sources. Version history requires additional space later, depending on how often those files change.

Create the backup​

  1. On the Home page, choose Back up my files.
  2. Select the content to protect. O&O AutoBackup offers familiar locations such as Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, and Downloads, with size and file-count estimates. Start with irreplaceable data; caches and installed programs do not belong in a file backup.
  3. Review any detected OneDrive folders. If Desktop, Documents, or Pictures were moved into OneDrive, select either the account or the moved folders—not both. See Protect OneDrive with an offline backup.
  4. Choose the destination. Check the capacity bar, connection status, and destination path that O&O AutoBackup will create. Existing unrelated files on the drive are not removed.
  5. Review the summary. The default schedule is automatic and the portable recovery app is enabled. Follow Change if you need a different schedule or retention policy.
  6. Decide whether the destination requires encryption. A USB drive that could be lost is a common reason to enable it. Save the recovery key somewhere else.
  7. Choose Start protecting my files.

The first run can take longer because every selected file has to be copied. Later runs normally transfer only new and changed content. You may pause or stop a run; O&O AutoBackup catches up when it can continue.

While the first backup runs, the progress page separates scanning from copying. Scanning discovers what needs attention; copying transfers the content. OneDrive online-only files may add a download phase before they can be written to the backup.

Check that protection is active​

Return to the Home page. The My files card shows the last backup, next planned run, destination, and any item that needs attention. A green or protected state should correspond to a completed run, not merely to a schedule that exists.

If the drive is disconnected, reconnect the same drive; O&O AutoBackup recognizes it and resumes automatically when drive-connect behavior is enabled. If Windows assigns it a new letter, the recorded volume identity helps O&O AutoBackup find the correct device.

Test recovery​

A backup is only useful if you know how to restore it. After the first run:

  1. Open Restore.
  2. Select one harmless file.
  3. Choose an older restore point if more than one already exists.
  4. Restore to a temporary folder rather than over the original.
  5. Open the restored file.

For an encrypted backup, perform the test once with the password and make sure the saved recovery key matches the displayed Vault ID. This confirms the destination, credentials, and recovery routine before you depend on them.

What to do next​

  • Leave O&O AutoBackup configured to start with Windows and remain in the notification area.
  • Connect removable destinations regularly.
  • Review the Home page after the first few scheduled runs.
  • Keep at least one copy offline or otherwise isolated.
  • Create periodic O&O DiskImage images for whole-system recovery.

Next: Create and edit backups or Restore files.