Backup installed programs and settings on Windows

In the guide to back up Windows we have always mentioned documents, images and photos, music and, if you create an operating system recovery disk, Windows files.

In a normal data backup there are usually no programs and software installed because otherwise it would take too much space and time. However, there are some programs that we can backup because, after installing them, we customized it so much that we didn’t want to lose everything.

In this guide we will show you how to back up your settings and configurationsoptions and preferences of some very famous programs, using the system integrated within Windows 11 and other programs designed for the purpose.

READ ALSO -> 10 Best Programs to make free automatic and incremental backups

1) Backup Windows 11 settings

To back up programs and settings on Windows 11, press WIN+I on the computer keyboard, go to the menu Accountlog in with a Microsoft account (if we haven’t already done so), open the menu Backup Windows and activate the switches next to the items Remember my apps e Store preferences.

From now on, the apps and operating system settings will be saved in Microsoft’s cloud backup, ready to be restored on a new PC on which we install Windows 11. We remind you that this backup system only saves the apps that we install via the Microsoft Store; for apps installed with the traditional method (.exe file or .msi file), it is best to back up the disk or create a system image.

For further information we can read the guide above how to backup in windows 11.

2) Backup Windows 10 settings

First of all, Windows 10 allows you to synchronize settings between PCs using theaccess to the PC with Microsoft account (everything will be saved on the cloud, so you can restore the settings on another PC with Windows).

To save all the Windows 10 settings, click on the Start button at the bottom left and search Syncso you can click on the appropriate menu item Sync your settings.
The same options can be found in Settings > Accounts.

A new menu window will open Settings; if we already have a Microsoft account associated with the PC, just activate all the items on the screen to enable the synchronization of settings, WiFi passwords, passwords saved on Edge, language preferences and other Windows settings.

If our PC does not use any type of Microsoft account (because during installation we opted for a simple local account), this section will not be available until we log in with a Microsoft account.

To add a new Microsoft account let’s go to the menu My info (present in the same screen that we reached for synchronization), then we click on the entry Sign in with a Microsoft account.

A new window will open, where you can enter the login credentials for the account (Outlook, Microsoft Live or Xbox account is also fine). At the end, our Microsoft account will be active on the PC, we will only be able to access it with the password set for it and we will unlock the synchronization entries that we saw just now.

3) EaseUS Todo PCTrans Free

The program that we recommend trying immediately to make a backup and migrate programs from one PC to another (even just for backup) is called EaseUS Todo PCTrans Freewhich derives from the EaseUS program, i.e. one of the best free programs for making automatic backups on Windows.

The program is free and works great although the free version is limited to backing up 2 programs at a time. Once installed, we create a new backup job using the wizard, then, when we are asked to choose the folders, we choose the exact paths where the configurations and settings of the various programs are saved.

Some of these folder paths listed below are in hidden folders. To make them visible Organize > Folder and Search Optionsgo to the tab View and activate your voice Show hidden files and folders.

4) CloneApp

As a free alternative we report instead CloneApp specialized for backing up all programs installed on the PC and saved custom settings.

Once started, simply select the compatible programs in the list and start creating the backup, which will be saved in a single file (to be kept outside the PC, perhaps on a external hard drive or its a NAS).

You can also save other files and registry keys in the Custom section, so as to also bring along the licenses and keys for correct operation.

5) Manual backups

In addition to the programs we have presented above, we can manually backup some programs; the software that definitely requires a separate backup are:

• I browser web with all your favorites and navigation settings. For backup of Firefox you can use it with the internal backup system called Firefox Sync, just create a free account. The backup of Google Chrome and other popular browsers it can be done online with a Google account and the synchronization settings of Chrome itself which save bookmarks, themes, preferences, extensions and auto-completion of forms and passwords, as also seen in the guide backup of all browsers.
• Office: Press Win+R key, type %appdata% and press Enter, then open the folder Microsoft and back up the following sub-folders: Office, Proof e UProof.
  If you have plug-ins installed for your various Office applications, back up your Word, Excel, and other folders as well. To also make a complete backup of the license we will have to back up the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office.
• For backup of LibreOffice let’s open the program and take us in Tools > Options > Paths to see which folder the various models, settings and so on are in.
  Most of the data needed by the free suite is available by pressing the Win+R keys, typing %appdata% and backing up the folder LibreOffice.
• To back up programs Adobe (like Photoshop, Premiere or Acrobat Reader) let’s take the usual path by clicking on the Win+R keys, typing %appdata% and then backing up the folder Adobe. The registry keys for license management can instead be found in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe.

If we wish move and create a backup of your iTunes library we have created a specific guide, so as to be able to save the settings of the Apple music management program and backup management of iPhones connected to the PC during its use.

The folders that we absolutely must check whenever we want manually back up a program are the following (to be inserted in the Run window, which can be called with Win+R): %AppData% (data for any user present on the PC) e %LocalAppData% (program-specific data for the logged in user). Other settings can be found within the registry and most are in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software e in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software.

It is explained in another article what are the AppData and ProgramData folders.

Conclusions

We have seen how to do it Backup settings and data for major programsbut as we will surely have guessed we can try to make a backup of any installed software.

Obviously all this is only necessary if you want to make a specific save for some programs, without having to make a general backup available with Windows data transfer.

To learn more we can read the article on how Create a Windows backup image.