Windows Backup Moves Files and Settings, Not Desktop Apps

Back up the old PC with Windows Backup while signed in with a personal Microsoft account, then sign in with the same account when you set up the new Windows 11 PC and choose to restore. Your settings, Wi-Fi networks and app pins come back, and files return through OneDrive; desktop apps you installed from the web have to be installed again.

Microsoft’s direct PC-to-PC transfer is gone. Its support page now reads “This feature is no longer available. Use Windows Backup and Restore instead,” and the 10 September 2026 Release Preview notes say the same.

What moves, item by item

Item	Does Windows Backup move it?	The alternative
Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music	Yes, synced to OneDrive (5 GB free)	Copy to an external drive in File Explorer
Other folders (Downloads, Favorites, other drives)	Not in its Folders list	Upload to OneDrive, or copy to an external drive
Microsoft Store apps	Pin restored; select it to reinstall	Reinstall from the Microsoft Store
Desktop apps not in the Store	Pin restored; sends you to the web for the installer	The maker’s installer, and your licence or sign-in
Wi-Fi networks and passwords	Yes: “Accounts, Wi-Fi network and passwords”	Re-enter them
Wallpaper, colour, theme, Start layout	Yes, if OneDrive has room	Set them again
Accessibility, language and dictionary	Yes	Set them again
Printers, mouse, File Explorer, notification settings	Yes, with “Other Windows settings” on	Set them again
Edge favorites, passwords, history, extensions	Microsoft points to Edge sync instead	Sign in to Edge and turn on sync
A work or school account	No: “Work or school Microsoft accounts won’t work”	Ask your employer’s IT

Step 1: back up the old PC

Microsoft’s instructions apply to Windows 11 and Windows 10, so the old PC can run either.

1. Check you are on a Microsoft account: Settings › Accounts › Your info. If you see Sign in with a Microsoft account instead, you are on a local account; select it.
2. Open Start, type backup and select Windows Backup. The same controls are at Settings › Accounts › Windows backup.
3. Expand Folders and turn on the folders you want in OneDrive. Microsoft lists five: Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music.
4. Turn on the settings you want: Installed apps, Accessibility, Accounts, Wi-Fi network and passwords, Personalization, Language preferences and dictionary and Other Windows settings. Some are on by default and show Backed up.
5. Select Back up.

Storage is the catch. A free Microsoft account comes with 5 GB of OneDrive, and Microsoft warns that personalization “will not be backed up if you have insufficient OneDrive storage.” If your folders are bigger, you can buy more OneDrive storage, or copy the large folders to an external drive (below).

If the old PC still runs Windows 10, Microsoft’s page notes that support ended on 14 October 2025, though extended security updates now run to October 2027 for PCs enrolled in them. Either way, the backup above works on it.

Step 2: restore during setup on the new PC

When the new PC asks you to sign in during setup, use the same Microsoft account. Microsoft says: “We’ll see that you have backups and ask you if you would like to restore one.” If you have backed up more than one PC, select More options to pick the right one.

A 2023 Windows Experience Blog footnote says restore needs Windows 11 version 22H2 or later and a network connection during setup, so connect to Wi-Fi before you reach the sign-in screen.

Your files are not copied during setup. Microsoft says they “can be restored anytime by signing in to OneDrive with the same Microsoft account”, and they then appear in File Explorer under OneDrive. To keep new files backed up, open OneDrive’s settings, go to Sync and backup, select Manage backup and pick your folders.

Apps: what you will reinstall

For apps, Windows Backup saves what Microsoft’s settings catalog calls a “List of installed apps”. Microsoft’s backup page says “Your apps’ pins are restored where you left them”: Store apps reinstall when you select the pin, and “For apps that aren’t available in the Store, you’ll be directed to the web to download the installer.”

So for anything you bought outside the Store, have the licence key or the account it is tied to before you wipe the old PC. If Office is one of them, the copy Microsoft preinstalls on a new laptop is a one-month trial unless you paid for Office with it. Antivirus is another you may not need to bring: Windows 11 already has one built in.

The Remember my apps switch is not available on work or school accounts.

Passwords and Edge

Windows Backup’s Accounts, Wi-Fi network and passwords setting covers Windows’ own saved networks and sign-ins. Browser passwords are separate. For Edge, Microsoft’s backup page says to “sign in to Microsoft Edge and turn on sync”. Once signed in, Edge “syncs your favorites, passwords, history, extensions, settings, open tabs, autofill form entries … payment info, and other data types” across the devices you use with that account. Sign in to Edge on the old PC first, so its data is in the cloud before you need it. Check what syncs at Settings › Profiles › Sync in Edge.

Without a Microsoft account: an external drive

Microsoft documents a manual route that needs no account: copy your folders to a USB drive, SD card or external hard drive in File Explorer, select Eject, then copy them onto the new PC. Its page reminds you to include Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Music, Pictures and Videos. This moves files only; settings and app lists stay behind.

After the move

To delete the cloud copy of your settings once you no longer need it, Microsoft says to turn off backup, then open your Microsoft account’s Devices page and select Clear stored settings under Cloud synced settings.

Questions people ask

How do I transfer everything from my old PC to my new Windows 11 laptop?

Run Windows Backup on the old PC while signed in with a personal Microsoft account, then sign in with the same account when you set up the new laptop and choose to restore. Files come back through OneDrive; Store apps reinstall from their pins; other desktop apps need their installers again.

Does Windows Backup transfer my apps?

It restores the app pins where you left them. Microsoft says Store apps reinstall when you select the pin, and for apps that are not in the Store you are sent to the web to download the installer. What Windows Backup saves is a list of your installed apps.

Is there still a way to transfer directly from PC to PC?

Not from Microsoft. Its support page for the setup-time transfer now says “This feature is no longer available. Use Windows Backup and Restore instead,” and the 10 September 2026 Release Preview notes say Windows Backup PC-to-PC Migration is no longer available.

Do I need a Microsoft account to move to a new PC?

For Windows Backup, the restore during setup and OneDrive, yes, and it must be a personal account: Microsoft says work or school accounts won’t work with Windows Backup. Copying files to a USB drive or external hard drive needs no account.

Will my saved passwords move to the new PC?

Windows Backup has a setting called “Accounts, Wi-Fi network and passwords”. Browser passwords are separate: for Edge, Microsoft’s backup page says to sign in to Edge and turn on sync, which carries favorites, passwords, history and extensions.

What if my files are bigger than 5 GB of OneDrive?

Microsoft says more OneDrive storage is available to buy, and Microsoft 365 plans include more. The free alternative it documents is copying the files to an external drive or USB stick in File Explorer and copying them back on the new PC.