Last Updated on November 1, 2026
File History is the built in Windows file and folder backup tool that has been around for many years. You can use it in Windows 10 and Windows 11, and it works the same way for both. File History will back up your default Windows user folders such as Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Pictures and more.
But if you want to add a custom folder to your backup that is not located under your user profile with the rest of your folders, there is no option to do so from File History. When you open the File History interface from Control Panel, you will see that there is not an option to add extra folders. This happens even though there is a specific setting right there to exclude folders.
1. Locate the Default File History Backup
To view the folders contained within your File History backup, you can browse to the drive that you are using for the backup. Open File Explorer. Look for a root folder called FileHistory. This directory holds all the data Windows saved for you.
2. Navigate Through the Backup Subfolders
Once you find that folder, you can drill down through the subfolders until you find your backed up files. The path will include the username and computer name associated with the backup. For our example, we can go to the following location to view the backed up files. We will navigate to F:\FileHistory\todds\WIN11-HOME\Data\C\Users\todds on the external drive.
3. Identify the Custom Folder You Want to Back Up
Now let’s say you wanted to add another folder to your backup that may even be on a different hard drive. For our example, we want to add a folder called Important Files. That folder is on the E drive of our computer. File History ignores this location by default.
4. Understand Windows Libraries
To do this, we will first need to add it to a Windows library so File History will be able to back it up. A Windows Library is a virtual collection of files and folders from different locations. It allows you to access and organize related content in one place without moving the actual files. Libraries in Windows help streamline file management by aggregating data from multiple directories.
5. Add Your Custom Folder to a Library
To add a folder to a Windows library, simply right click on it. Then choose the Include in Library option. Choose the library that best matches the contents of the folder. For our example, we will add it to the Documents library.
6. Enable Libraries in Windows 11
Starting with Windows 11 25H2, you will need to create a custom library first before having the option to include a folder in it. The Create new library option is no longer there. To view the libraries on your computer, you can right click in a blank area within the left pane of File Explorer and choose Show libraries. Then you can right click on Libraries and choose New > Library. So you would have to make it first before adding something to it.
7. Verify the Folder Placement Within the Library
As you can see in the image below, our Important Files folder is listed within the Documents library. It is not actually mixed in with the files in the Documents folder. This logical separation keeps your original file structure intact.
8. Confirm the Backup Execution
The next time File History runs, it will include the Important Files folder that is on the E drive. Then when we browse the File History backup folder, we will see a separate folder for the E drive. Within that we will see the Important Files folder.
9. Access the Restore Personal Files Interface
If we were then to go to the Restore personal files section of File History, we would see an entry for the default Documents folder. We would also see another one for the library files for the Documents folder. This confirms the system backed up the custom location.
10. Restore Your Custom Files
Then if we open this folder, we will see the files and folders from the Important Files folder that we added to our backup. The system safely copied everything over. Then we can restore them as needed.
11. Remove a Folder from a Windows Library
To remove a folder from a library, right click the library that it is part of and choose Properties. Then you can delete the folder from there. It will not delete the actual folder itself. It just removes the shortcut that was in the library.
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