Windows has never been great at offering backup options but I decided to start using File History in Win8 since it seemed simple and file-based. I excluded some folders but otherwise left it at default settings and it seemed to work well. Unfortunately, it seems totally screwed up in Win10.
First, it's confusing as hell to have settings for it both in the new Settings app and in Control Panel. CP says it backs up "Libraries, OneDrive", etc., yet this is not in alignment with what Settings shows. Instead, Settings shows it as including EVERY user folder, even the random ones you don't use.
Here's where the issue begins. I have no need to backup my Downloads folder. It was never included in old File History since it only backed up Libraries and Downloads wasn't a library. Now it's included though, and when you delete it, it automatically gets added again the next time a backup is run. So MS is forcing you to backup this folder.
So I thought I'd add an exclusion - can't. If you add Downloads as an excluded directory, it simply doesn't show up in the list. So I tried adding each subdirectory in Downloads to exclusions. This appeared to work, but then it promptly ignored this and backed up all of those folders anyway.
So, File History in Win10:
At this point it seems the only options are to not use the default Downloads folder and instead put everything in some other folder I create, or stop using File History altogether. Are others experiencing this, or is this just a quirk with my system?
First, it's confusing as hell to have settings for it both in the new Settings app and in Control Panel. CP says it backs up "Libraries, OneDrive", etc., yet this is not in alignment with what Settings shows. Instead, Settings shows it as including EVERY user folder, even the random ones you don't use.
Here's where the issue begins. I have no need to backup my Downloads folder. It was never included in old File History since it only backed up Libraries and Downloads wasn't a library. Now it's included though, and when you delete it, it automatically gets added again the next time a backup is run. So MS is forcing you to backup this folder.
So I thought I'd add an exclusion - can't. If you add Downloads as an excluded directory, it simply doesn't show up in the list. So I tried adding each subdirectory in Downloads to exclusions. This appeared to work, but then it promptly ignored this and backed up all of those folders anyway.
So, File History in Win10:
- Manages a list of included folders that differs from what CP shows
- Forces you to included Downloads and adds it back when you delete it
- Prevents you from excluding Downloads
- Ignores excluded directories that are within included directories - so if you want to backup a whole directory except for one or two subfolders, this won't work, but the GUI misleads you into thinking it will
At this point it seems the only options are to not use the default Downloads folder and instead put everything in some other folder I create, or stop using File History altogether. Are others experiencing this, or is this just a quirk with my system?
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