How to restore overwritten or deleted files in Windows 8 using file history

Microsoft has abandoned few old features in their latest Windows 8 operating system and introduced some new features to enhance the user's experience. Once of the new feature which we are going to discuss is FILE HISTORY in Windows 8 OS which helps users in getting/recovering their files, folders, photos or documents if they are mistakenly deleted, lost or corrupted. This article will help you to understand what the file history feature in Windows 8 is all about, how to set up the file history feature and procedure to recover deleted or corrupted files or folders from file history in Windows 8 OS.

What is FILE HISTORY in Windows 8 OS?
File History is nothing but a improved feature of existing feature called Previous Versions which was there in Windows Vista and Windows 7 OS. File History feature UI is more user friendly than previous version and works in the same way as the Previous Versions feature used to do but with an exception (for that continue to read below).

Does FILE HISTORY back all files and folders in Windows 8?
No, file history feature backs up only important files and folders stored in Windows 8 system desktop, libraries, favorites, contacts and Microsoft SkyDrive account in contrast to traditional Recovery or System Restore feature which backs up the Whole system. Though, you can add any folder from other disk to system's library. There are two ways of achieving that.

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- Adding a folder to existing library – Open Windows Explorer then click on Libraries link on right side. Select any library and then click on "Manage" tab on Windows Explorer and choose "Manage Library" button. A small Window will pop up click on Add button to add folder from other disk and click OK button.


- Creating a New Library – Navigate to library Window Explorer, right click on empty space and choose "Library" option give a name to it and on next screen click on "Include a folder" button to add folder to newly created library.


How to setup file history feature in Windows 8?
File history feature is turned off by default in Windows 8 as it requires another hard drive (internal or external) to back up the files and folders even a drive on network location can be used as back up drive.


To enable File History feature all you need to install second internal hard disk or plug in the external hard disk to USB port (recommended by Microsoft) and then navigate to File History option in control panel (Procedure to access File History >> switch to desktop mode>>swipe the mouse cursor to right side of the Windows to open up the Charm bar >> Settings >> Control Panel >> File History). On File History Window, click on the "Select drive" link appearing on left side and on the next screen it will present you the list of drives from which you can select a drive as a backup disk and click OK button.



You can back up your files and folder instantly to backup disk using "Run now" link just below the backup disk icon.

In case anything goes wrong in File History refer this link for more information.

How to customize file history options as per your needs?
File History feature in Windows 8 has come a long way and its user friendly UI gives complete freedom to user to customize it according to the need. Click on "Advance settings" option appearing on left side of File History Window and on the next screen you can configure frequency of backup, amount of space allocated to backup disk and how long you want to preserve backup copies of files and folders. You can even clean up the older backup files and folders using the "Clean up versions" link. In case you want to exclude any folder from backup you can add it on the exclusion list by visiting the "Exclude folders" link on the left side.

How to recover files from file history?
Here comes the main part of file history feature. You can restore any file or folder if it is accidentally deleted, corrupted or older version of wrongly updated file just by navigating to folder where original file was save and in case of folder navigate to that partition and click on "Home" tab in Windows Explorer then on History icon and click on "Restore Personal files" link.



It will open up a new Window, here you can navigate to the file or folder you want to restore or search it in the search box. You can navigate to the different versions of backup saved using back and forth button at the bottom and once you find the right version of backup file or folder click on the green restore button to restore it on the original location.