Windows 11 is supposed to move away from legacy features and UI as Microsoft continues to bet big on “modernization.” But is that the case for all things in Windows? Well, not really. According to an updated support document, Microsoft still recommends using Windows 7’s Backup and Restore if the newer solutions do not meet your needs.

Windows 11 has a new Backup app called “Windows Backup”, which is really nice and gets the job done, but only if you’ve OneDrive subscription. I’m going to talk about this in detail a bit later in the article, but first, let’s talk about the updated support documentation on “Backup and recovery tools in Windows.”

This documentation is about Windows 11 and Windows 10 backup/recovery solutions, and it surprisingly recommends Windows 7’s tool.

Interestingly, Windows 7’s tool was not recommended until last week, but earlier this week, Microsoft quietly updated the support document where we noticed the change. We noticed it because we subscribed to Microsoft’s RSS feed. While Microsoft’s documentations getting updated is not news, what caught our attention was a note on Windows 7 tool.

According to Microsoft, you may want to use the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) edition to create local backups of your files. You can also go to the Control Panel and schedule a backup. You can restore files and even the entire system image.

It goes without saying that Microsoft also understands that Windows 7’s backup tool is more advanced with several features. As mentioned, it can accessed through the Control Panel, and it even allows you to backup your system image, including generating a complete image of your system.

The backup includes the entire Windows 11 installation, apps, and personal files. When you create it using Windows 7’s backup tool, you can restore the backup image to bring your Windows 11 system back to life when it fails to boot.

This is one of the reason why the company is still recommending Windows 7’s backup tool over new Windows Backup app, which can only backup apps and files to the OneDrive storage.

It’s not yet possible to backup the entire Windows 11 installation image to OneDrive, but could that change in future? Maybe.

In our tests, Windows Latest noticed that Windows Backup has certain limitations like it cannot create a backup of Windows image in OneDrive.

Instead, it can back up folders like Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Music directly to OneDrive. Additionally, it saves your wallpaper, language preferences, and Wi-Fi passwords,. Windows Backup also remembers your installed apps.

Unlike the classic Windows Backup tool, the modern solution makes restoring data super easy because you get to restore the content as soon as you sign in with your Microsoft account when setting up a new PC or reinstalling Windows.

What about you? Do you prefer Windows 7’s Backup tool over Windows 11’s OneDrive Backup app? Let us know in the comments below.

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