How do you back up one drive to an external hard drive?

One is a super popular cloud storage solution. Many folks—both individuals & businesses—use it to get work from anywhere as long as there’s internet. However, some organizations choose to back up their OneDrive data on an external hard drive. Why? Well, let’s find out together!

Why Back Up OneDrive to an External Drive?

Even though OneDrive has great features, there are reasons why users might think about backing up their data on an external hard drive. Here are some of these reasons:

• Security Concerns: Accessing files anywhere sounds nice but can also lead to unwanted access. Regularly backing up data & clearing OneDrive can help keep things safe.
• Offline Access: You need the internet for OneDrive. So, if you back up files on an external drive, you can access your stuff even when you’re offline!
• Storage Management: If your OneDrive storage is almost full, backing up can help free up space. That’s really useful!
• Protection Against Outages: If there’s a problem with OneDrive and it goes down, having a backup makes sure you still have access to your data.

Now, let’s see how you can actually back up your OneDrive data to an external hard drive.

How to Back Up OneDrive to an External Hard Drive?

There are three easy ways to move data from OneDrive to an external drive:

1. Using the Web Interface
2. Using the OneDrive Sync Client
3. Using the Shoviv OneDrive Migration Tool (this one is recommended by Microsoft MVPs!)

Backup OneDrive via the Web Interface:

You can download files manually from OneDrive using any web browser like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open your web browser & sign in to your OneDrive account.
2. Find the document you want to save on your external hard drive.
3. Go to the File menu and pick Save as.
4. Choose Download a copy or Download as a PDF.

This method is pretty simple! But one little issue—you can only download files one by one. If you have lots of files, this can take forever!

Backup OneDrive via the OneDrive Sync Client:

Another way is using the sync client—let’s see how this works:

1. Open OneDrive on your computer and go to Settings.
2. Click Account, then choose Unlink this PC.
3. Confirm that you want to unlink in the dialogue box.
4. Open File Explorer & find your OneDrive folder.
5. Move that folder over to your external hard drive.

While it works fine, there are some things to keep in mind:

• You first have to allow OneDrive to store files locally on your computer.
• You can’t move data from multiple accounts at once.
• After unlinking your account, you might not be able to access all your files right away.

Backup OneDrive Using the Shoviv OneDrive Migration Tool:

For a faster & more reliable solution, check out the Shoviv OneDrive Migration Tool! Many professionals and Microsoft MVPs say it’s great for backing up data easily without any hassle.

Here’s how this awesome tool works:

1. First, install & open the software on your system.
2. Go to the Create Connection window and click Connect Drive.
3. Enter a Project name, Tenant ID, Client ID (that’s application ID), & secret key for your Account.
4. Next, go to Create Jobs and select the “OneDrive to File system” option from the left pane.
5. Enter a job name and pick a target folder for all those backup files—then click Next!
6. Here comes the filter option; just use what feels right & hit Next again!
7. Now configure any other advanced options if needed; then move forward by clicking Next again!
8. You’ll get a scheduler option next. This is where you can set it when you want backups done, so you don’t have to remember later on!
9. Lastly, review all of your job settings and click Finish!

The software will kick off and give you a live log report as it backs everything up! See? It’s super easy! No tech expertise is required!

We recommend trying out their free version, too! It lets you check features & compatibility—and allows processing items less than 20KB without limits—how cool is that?

Wrap-Up:

There are multiple ways to back up your OneDrive data to an external hard drive, and the easiest and most reliable method is the Shoviv OneDrive Migration Tool. Manual methods like using the web interface or the sync client can work, but they come with limitations, especially if you have a lot of files or multiple accounts. With Shoviv’s tool, you can back up your data quickly, safely, and hassle-free. Plus, you don’t need any special tech skills to use it! If you’re unsure, you can try the free version to see how it works.