What if something goes wrong in File History?
If something goes wrong in File History, you'll see a message appear in the notification area at the far right of the taskbar. You can tap or click it to go directly to Action Center where you can fix the problem. If you miss the notification, you can open Action Center in Control Panel. Here are some notifications you might see and actions you can take to solve the problems.
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If your File History drive is full or almost full, there are two things you can do. You can either replace the drive and move your existing files to the new drive, or start again with the new drive.
To select a different drive
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Open File History by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File History in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking File History.
Tap or click Change drive.
On the Change your File History drive page, do one of the following:
To use a new external drive, connect the drive to your PC, refresh the page, then tap or click OK.
To use a network location, tap or click Add network location, browse to or enter a location, tap or click Select folder, then tap or click OK.
If you want to copy all of the versions of your files to the new drive, tap or click Yes. If not, tap or click No.
Your File History drive is full or almost full, but you can clear some space by changing how often File History saves your files and how long older versions of your files are kept.
To change File History settings
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Open File History by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File History in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking File History.
Tap or click Advanced settings.
On the Advanced settings page, do one of the following:
Next to Save copies of files, tap or click the drop-down list, and choose a time interval.
Next to Keep saved versions, tap or click the drop-down list, and choose a time interval.
Tap or click Save changes.
Your File History drive has been disconnected for too long, or it doesn't have enough space to save temporary versions of your files. To continue saving copies of your files, you'll need to reconnect your File History drive.
To reconnect your drive
Reconnect your File History drive to your PC.
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Open File History by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File History in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking File History.
Tap or click Reconnect drive.
There are errors in your File History settings that can be fixed by reselecting your File History drive.
To reselect your drive
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Open File History by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File History in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking File History.
Tap or click Select drive.
On the Select a File History drive page, tap or click your current drive or network location, then tap or click OK.
There are errors in your File History drive that need to be repaired.
To repair your drive
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Open Action Center by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Action Center in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Action Center.
Tap or click Repair.
There's a problem with your username or password, or both. First, make sure that the network is still available and you can still access it. If so, you can enter your credentials again to continue saving copies of your files.
To re-enter your network credentials
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Open File History by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering File History in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking File History.
Tap or click Re-enter credentials.
In the Windows Security dialogue box, enter your username and password, select the Remember my credentials checkbox, then tap or click OK.
If you can't see the Windows Security dialogue box, refresh the page.
