In the Windows system, regardless of the version, a folder is allocated on the hard drive in which the system keeps everything related to the user from files downloaded from the Internet, documents, images, audio files, videos, and of course folders and files on the desktop, in addition to user data on the programs and browsers used. For this reason, if creating a backup copy of all the contents of the hard drive is difficult to do, at least you should back up the user folder regularly so that you have a copy of your files if you need to save a lot of trouble if you have to install a new copy of Windows or I recently moved to another computer. Below we review how to do this.
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| How to backup user folder in Windows 10 or 11 |
How to backup PC
Initially, if you do not know where the user folder is located on your computer and what files it contains, by default Windows saves this folder on the C partition as a subfolder of the Users folder, but the easiest way to access it is to open the Run window by pressing the Win + R keys together, then Type the command [%userprofile%] and press Enter. You should now see the contents of the folder, which includes data about installed programs and applications along with desktop shortcuts, saved documents, and downloads, among other things. So backing up this folder is very necessary to avoid losing your data kept there.
How to copy a user profile in OS 10 or 11
Regarding this, you can use the built-in Windows backup tool, but as an advanced tool, given what we need here, we can rely on another, more practical tool to make it easier, such as the free Karen's Replicator to back up your user folder in Windows. The program has a simple and direct graphical interface in addition to being light in size and provides important features such as synchronizing changes with backup copies. We'll explain everything later, now all you have to do is download and install Karens Replicator on your device and then run it, after that press the "...Edit Settings" button and follow the next steps.
In the window that appears in front of you, click on the "New Job" button to open another window where you specify the properties of the backup. First set a name for the backup in the "Job Name" field and then go to the next area "Source Folder" and press the Browse button to select the user folder from the pop-up window that will appear; As we mentioned, this folder is usually located as a subfolder under the Users folder in Partition C, just select it and press the "OK" button. After that, press the Browse button in the Destination Folder field and select the location where the backup is saved, such as a folder on the external hard drive, a flash drive, or even in the Google Drive folder if Google Drive for Desktop is installed on your device.
The next step, after specifying the user folder and the location where the backup is to be saved, is to specify when the Replicator will automatically create and update the backup. By default, the program sets itself to update the backup once every day at one o'clock after midnight. Still, you can change it to any time that suits you by clicking on the "...Change Schedule" button and then specifying the time and days according to your requirements, or disable it Automatic update of the backup in case you do not want to perform regular backups, by removing the checkmark (✔) from the "Enabled" option.
Sync your settings
Optionally, you can enable the sync feature or "Replicate Folder and File Deletions" to reverse deletions made to the user's folder in the backup so that they are kept up to date. For example, if you delete a file from the user's folder, Replicator will delete the file from the backup as well. There is also a hard drive space-saving option to make boosting easier so that it replaces the old boost with the boosted one, by turning on "delete old copy before creating new".
Upon completion, click on the "Save Job" button below and then click on "Save Changes and Close" to create a new task in the program to save a backup copy of the user's folder. Now to back up your user folder, just select the created backup job and hit the "Run Highlighted Jobs Now" button. Optionally, you can add a small file on the desktop by simply double-clicking it to update the backup, pressing the "Save Shortcut To Job" button in the program, and then selecting the location to save the shortcut file to be "Desktop".
In the end, the program will back up all the files under the user's folder. While doing this, you'll also see a backup progress bar at the bottom of the screen. Depending on the size of the folder, the backup process may take some time to complete.
