[Beginner’s Guide]How to Backup OneDrive to External Hard Drive

Do you ever face the same problem that, for some reason, you want to back your OneDrive files to an external hard drive? OneDrive is a popularly used platform for cold storage. People use it to store their important data, videos, photos, etc. Although it has strong practicability, it may suffer problems like data loss, insufficient storage space, and not available offline. So, getting OneDrive backuped seems critically crucial. In this article, we will guide you on how to back up OneDrive to the external hard drive.

Why You May Backup OneDrive Files to an External Hard Drive?

Including using out-of-storage, there are many reasons you should backup your files on OneDrive. 

❓Reasons	Explanation📋
More flexibility to use OneDrive files offline	In case there is any internet disconnection, you cannot access the data on OneDrive, so backing up OneDrive to an external hard drive is a smart way.
Prevent potential data loss	You can never prevent accidental deletion, server crash, or computer corruption kinda problems while you are using your computer. Backing up your OneDrive just adds an extra layer of protection to the data security.
Save storage space on OneDrive	As we mentioned, the limitation of the free user of OneDrive is only 5 GB. It may not meet the demand of some users, and backing up OneDrive to an external hard drive just reduces some of the storage pressure.

How to Backup OneDrive to an External Hard Drive?

In this part, we will guide you 4 ways to backup files of OneDrive to external hard drives.

🌟Methods	🔧Step-by-step guide
Move files from one drive to an external drive manually	Step 1. Go to your OneDrive account… Full steps
Move files from one drive to an external drive using the web interface	Step 1. Open your Browser. No matter whether you use Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or whatever, find and click Settings… Full steps
Backup OneDrive to an external hard drive using OneDrive & Sync Client	Step 1. After you download and install your OneDrive, search OneDrive on the search bar and press Enter… Full steps
Automatically backup one drive to an external hard drive using third-party software	Step 1. Install the app.Step 2. Click the Create New’ on the ‘Backup&Restore item… Full steps

Method 1: Move files from one drive to an external drive using the web interface

The essence of this method is to download the files and move them to the external hard drive manually.

• Step 1. Go to your OneDrive account.

• Step 2. Select the files or folders you want to backup.

• Step 3. Right-click the file or folder, and click Download to download them on your computer.

• Step 4. After you download the files to your computer, move them to the external hard disk drive you attached.

✅Pros:

• Easy and simple to perform.
• No need to download any extra apps.

❌Cons:

• Sometimes time-consuming for a large amount of tasks.

Method 2: Move files from one drive to an external drive by setting the Browser’s download folder

The main ideology of this method is the same as method 1. You still don’t need to download and install any apps, and this method saves one step. 

• Step 1. Open your Browser. No matter whether you use Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or whatever, find and click Settings.

• Step 2. In Settings, click on the Download item.

• Step 3. Click the Change option to change the download folder.

• Step 4. Choose your external hard drive as your download folder and click the Select folder.
• Step 5. After setting the external hard drive as your download folder, follow the steps of method 1. Just go to your OneDrive to download your files.
• Step 6. The files will automatically download to the external hard drive. You don’t need to transfer them again. Remember to reset the download folder if you don’t use the external hard drive afterward.

✅Pros:

• No need to download apps.
• No need to copy and paste the files to external hard drive.

❌Cons:

• Reset the settings every time you back up OneDrive.

Method 3: Backup OneDrive to an external hard drive using OneDrive & Sync Client

The logic of this method is to sync the files of your OneDrive on your computer, and then you can just copy and paste the files you need to your external hard disk drive. 

• Step 1. After you download and install your OneDrive, search OneDrive on the search bar and press Enter.
• Step 2. Sign in with your username and password. Finish the processes with the prompts.
• Step 3. In the bottom right corner, you can see the OneDrive icon. Right-click it and set up your syncing settings.

• Step 4. After setting up the syncing, search one drive on the search bar again and press Enter. The OneDrive folder will pop up and contain your files and folders. If you don’t see the files and folders, you need to give some time to wait for the syncing to be done.

• Step 5. Browse the files and folders and copy and paste them to your external hard disk drive.

Alternatively, you can set the external hard drive as the download folder when you sign in to your account, and then all the data of your OneDrive will be synced to your external hard drive. You don’t need to copy and paste them again. But I don’t suggest you to do that. If you unplug the external hard disk drive, it will affect the syncing and you still need to set the download folder again.

📽️Learn from the video tutorial:

Sync files with OneDrive in Windows

✅Pros:

• It saves a lot of time.
• You only need to set the settings once.

❌Cons:

• You need to download OneDrive sync if you use Mac or an older version of Windows below 10.

Method 4: Automatically backup one drive to an external hard drive using third-party software

This method utilizes third-party backup software. It needs you to turn on the syncing of your OneDrive. There are many notable backup software, like Wondershare UBackit and AOMEI Backupper, etc. 

Here is how you back up your OneDrive files to the external hard drive using Wondershare UBackit.

• Step 1. Install the app.

• Step 2. Click the Create New’ on the ‘Backup&Restore item.

• Step 3. Select the local path of the OneDrive folder on your computer as the backup source.

• Step 4. Select the path of your external hard drive as the backup destination.

• Step 5. Click the Backup option to start the process.

✅Pros:

• Use third-party software for more options for backing up Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.
• It is reliable and efficient.

❌Cons:

• Need to download third-party software.
• Some software is charged.

More related post: How to Backup Google Drive to External Hard Drive

Bonus tip: How to download all files from one drive

Method 1, Method 2, and Method 3 support to download all files from OneDrive. 

In Method 1 and Method 2:

• Step 1. You just press the Ctrl+A keys to select all the data, or you toggle on the selection for all items option to select all.

• Step 2. Right-click on the item and click on the Download.

Note: Select the Peresonal Valut folder if you have one. You will not see the Download button but only the Delete button because this folder can not be downloaded.

In method 3, set all the folders to sync to your computer, and then all the data will be on your computer.

• Step 1. Right-click on the OneDrive icon in the bottom right corner.

• Step 2. Click on Settings.

• Step 3. Click on the Choose folder.

• Step 4. Select all the items and click on the OK button. Then all the data will be synced to your computer.

Wrap-up

In this article, we have discussed why we need to back up OneDrive files to external hard drives. In order to address the need to backup OneDrive to external hard drive, we have introduced four ways. The essence of these methods is just to download or sync your OneDrive files to your computer and then move them to the external hard drive. There is no good or bad of these methods. Just pick one you are comfortable with. By learning these methods, you can use them to back up Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.