Backing up your files is a crucial part of being a computer user. There are two types of people in the world: those who have lost data, and those who will. Keeping regular backups of all important data will eliminate the pain of data loss.

There are several ways of backing up files on your tablet. The method recommended by the Help Desk is to use File History. In a pinch, you can also copy files manually or use Google Drive.

See File History for a guide on enabling File History. This is the easiest method of backing up your data to an SD card or flash drive and will also save old versions of your files for safekeeping.

If you elect not to use Google Drive or File History, you can copy your profile folders manually to a flash drive or other external storage. This is probably faster if you only need to copy files once but if you have to do it several times it gets to the point where simply using an automated method is more efficient.

Prepare Your Destination

1. Open your flash drive or other storage media.
2. Create a folder within it, name it something descriptive, such as “Tablet Data - Aug 29”.
3. Open the folder you created.
4. Place the explorer window with your opened destination folder on the right side of your screen.
   • Tip: You can dock a window to the right side of your screen by holding the Windows key and pressing the right arrow on your keyboard.

Copy Your Profile Folders to Your Destination

1. Move the Flash Drive window to the right side of your screen.
2. Open another copy of explorer by pressing Windows Key + E.
3. In the address bar, type %userprofile% and press ENTER.
4. Once you are viewing your personal folder, move that window to the left side of your screen.
5. Hold down the CTRL key and select the following folders by clicking on them:
   • Desktop
   • My Documents
   • My Music
   • My Pictures
   • My Videos
6. Click and drag the folders over into the “Tablet Data” folder on the right. Hold down CTRL before you release the mouse to ensure the folders are copied and not moved or linked
7. Wait while the files are copied.
8. Once the copy is complete you may close the Windows and eject your destination media.

To restore your files, you only need to copy them from your backup location to their original location. If you copied your profile folders earlier, you can take these steps to restore them:

Prepare Your Destination

1. Open another copy of explorer by pressing Windows Key + E.
2. In the address bar, type %userprofile% and press ENTER.
3. Once you are viewing your personal folder, move that window to the left side of your screen.
4. Hold down the CTRL key and select the following folders by clicking on them:
   • Desktop
   • My Documents
   • My Music
   • My Pictures
   • My Videos

Copy Your Profile Folders from Your Flash Drive

1. Open your flash drive or other storage media.
2. Move this window to the right side of your screen.
   1. Tip: You can dock a window to the right side of your screen by holding the Windows key and pressing the left arrow on your keyboard.
3. Select all of your profile folders you'd like to restore.
4. Click and drag your profile folders from your flash drive on the right to your Windows profile on the left.
5. When you are prompted if you want to merge the folder, check the box saying to do this for all items, and hit OK.
6. If you are prompted about conflicting files, go ahead and overwrite them (this should be the top option).
7. When the file copy is complete, you've successfully restored your files from backup.