Windows 11's New "Default Backup" Won't Save Your Files — Here's What It Actually Does
Updated October 5, 2026. Windows 11 26H2 shipped on September 29, and it turned on a second feature by default that does apply to regular PCs. The original article is below; the update is at the end.
You may have seen the headlines this week: "Microsoft Confirms Windows 11 26H2 Comes With Change in Backup Policy." Backup enabled by default. Sounds like Windows finally backs itself up, right?
I read the actual announcement so you don't have to. Here's the plain-language version.
New here? This is what a backup actually is.
What Microsoft actually announced
On July 6, 2026, Microsoft said that starting with Windows 11 version 26H2, a feature called Windows settings backup and restore will be turned on by default instead of off.
Here's what that feature backs up:
Your Windows settings — things like your preferences and personalization
A list of the apps you installed from the Microsoft Store
That's it. Read that list again, because it's the whole story.
What it does NOT back up
Your files. Not your documents, not your photos, not your QuickBooks data, not your customer records.
Your actual programs. It remembers a list of Store apps — it doesn't save the apps themselves, and most business software doesn't come from the Microsoft Store anyway.
Your operating system. If your drive dies, this feature doesn't rebuild your computer.
Anything that would save you from ransomware. If your files get encrypted, a backed-up settings menu is not going to un-encrypt them.
Microsoft says so themselves — they describe this as one piece of a bigger resilience effort, not a complete backup solution. Even the restore side of the feature stays turned off by default.
And here's the part the headlines skip
This change doesn't even apply to most small business computers. It only kicks in on company-managed devices joined to Microsoft Entra (the enterprise sign-in system big organizations use). If you're a small shop running regular Windows 11 PCs — which describes most of the businesses I work with here in Central Kentucky — the settings-backup change doesn't touch you. Your files are exactly as backed up tomorrow as they are today. Which, for a lot of businesses I meet, is: not at all.
Why I'm writing about this
Because I know how this goes. A headline says "Windows now backs up by default," a business owner half-reads it, and a little voice says "good, that's handled." Then a drive fails or ransomware hits, and we find out together that what was "handled" was the desktop wallpaper and a list of Store apps.
A real backup means:
A full copy of your system — files, programs, settings, the whole machine — not just a settings list.
A copy that lives somewhere ransomware can't reach, like a disconnected external drive.
Proof it actually works. A backup you've never test-restored is a hope, not a plan.
That's the standard I hold my own clients' backups to, and it's the standard I'd want you to hold anyone's backup to — mine included.
Update, October 2026: 26H2 is out, and there's a second change
Windows 11 26H2 was released on September 29. The settings-backup change above happened as described. But 26H2 also turned on something called point-in-time restore by default on regular home and small-business PCs (not on company-managed ones, where it stays off). This one is worth understanding, because it's closer to a backup than the settings thing, and it's still not one.
What it does: Windows keeps snapshots of your Windows drive, and if an update or an install goes wrong, you can roll the whole drive back to how it was a few hours ago. Files, apps, and settings all go back together. That's useful. A bad Tuesday-morning update is now a ten-minute fix instead of an afternoon.
What it isn't: the snapshots live on the same drive as everything else, and Windows throws them away after 72 hours. If the drive dies, the snapshots die with it. If ransomware encrypts the drive, the snapshots are on the drive it encrypted. If you need a file from last month, it's gone. Files in OneDrive aren't part of it either way. And it only turns itself on if the Windows drive is at least 200 GB, so some smaller laptops won't have it at all.
So the honest summary of 26H2 is this: Windows got a good rewind button. It did not get a backup. The three things a real backup means, up above, haven't changed.
To check whether yours is on: Settings > System > Recovery, and look for Point-in-time restore. If it isn't listed there, your PC hasn't received 26H2 yet (Settings > System > About shows your version under Windows specifications), or your Windows drive is under 200 GB. When you do need it, it runs from Windows Recovery: Troubleshoot > Point-in-time restore.
Not sure where you stand?
I offer a free, no-pressure Data Safety Check — 30 minutes where we look at what you'd actually get back if your computer died tonight. No sales pitch, no corporate script. Just one local guy giving you a straight answer.
If the answer is "you're covered," I'll tell you that and shake your hand. If it's not, at least now you know — before a headline convinced you otherwise.
For businesses that need more than the built-in tools, here's what I set up and support.
David Martin
Information Security Kentucky, LLC
Protect. Prevent. Prepare.
Hardin County, Kentucky