by In this blog post, I’ll guide you through leveraging Windows Backup for Organizations. Microsoft announced the general availability (last August) of this new capability, designed to simplify data protection and recovery for Enterprises. With Windows Backup for Organizations, IT teams can effortlessly back up Windows settings and Microsoft Store apps, then restore them on any Microsoft Entra-joined device, ensuring a smooth and consistent user experience.
What is Windows Backup for Organizations
Windows Backup for Organizations streamlines device transitions by preserving user settings and Microsoft Store apps. This ensures a consistent experience for users after a reset or upgrade, helping maintain productivity and minimizing downtime. Currently, Windows Backup for Organizations is disabled by default.
Key Benefits
- Lower IT overhead while enabling efficient support for remote and hybrid work environments.
- Seamless restoration of settings and Microsoft Store apps following a reset, reimage, or device replacement.
- Cloud-powered and integrated with Microsoft Entra ID, delivering a modern, automated backup and recovery process.
Process
Windows Backup for Organizations is a cloud-based solution tightly integrated with Microsoft Entra ID. Building on the foundation of Enterprise State Roaming (ESR), it introduces broader coverage and greater automation. Rather than backing up files or full system images, this service focuses on user settings and Microsoft Store apps, delivering a consistent experience across devices during resets, upgrades, or migrations.
Backup
Enabling Windows Backup via a Configuration Profile in Microsoft Intune activates a Scheduled Task on the device that will take a backup of the user settings and a list of installed Microsoft Store apps every 8 days. The end user can also start a backup manually via the Windows Backup app.
All data is stored in the cloud, ranging from:
- Settings like personalization, accessibility, language, Bluetooth, and File Explorer preferences
- Saves the list of Microsoft Store apps for easy restoration.
IMPORTANT: Files and Win32 apps are not backed up; these require solutions like OneDrive Known Folder Move (KFM).
Restore
The restore is triggered during the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE). When a user signs in to a new or reset Windows 11 device, it will check for an exisiting backup profile. When there is one, the user will get a message with the question if they want to restore a previous saved profile.
After chosing the desired profile, all the backed-up settings will be restored and the Start menu will be populated with the Microsoft Store Apps that are in the list.
Prerequisites
Before we can start our device needs some requirements for the backup and restore features.
| Requirement Type | Backup Requirements | Restore Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Device Join State | Microsoft Entra joined or hybrid joined | Microsoft Entra joined (Hybrid join not supported for restore) |
| Supported OS Versions | – Windows 11, version 22H2, build 22621.5768+ – Windows 11, version 23H2, build 22631.5768+ – Windows 11, version 24H2, build 26100.4946+ | – Windows 11 only: version 22H2, build 22621.3958+ version 23H2, build 22631.3958+ version 24H2, build 26100.1301+ |
| Update Requirement | August 2025 cumulative update or later | August 2025 cumulative update or later |
| Intune Settings | Backup policy enabled via Intune Settings Catalog or Group Policy | Restore setting enabled (tenant-wide) in Intune under Devices > Enrollment |
| User Account | Must sign in with Microsoft Entra account | Same Microsoft Entra account used for backup |
| Additional Notes | Backup feature is opt-in and disabled by default | Restore occurs during OOBE (Out-of-Box Experience) and requires at least one backup profile |
If you want to be sure your device has the latest update, you can enable the Install Windows updates option in the Enrollment Status Page. This means during enrollment you’re device will update to the latest version.
Configuration
Enrollment
The first thing we need to do is ensure that Windows Backup for Organisations is enabled so that this option becomes visible during enrolment.
Go the Microsoft Intune admin center | Enrollment | Enrollment Options and choose Windows Backup and restore. Make sure that Show restore page is set to On and Save the settings.
Configuration
Before we can start using the Windows Backup for Organization, we need to create a Configuration Policy to activate it on our devices (did you notice the message in the previous screenshot?).
Go the Microsoft Intune admin center | Devices | Windows | Manage Devices | Configuration and and choose Create and New Policy. As platform choose Windows 10 and later and Profile type Settings Catalog, then choose Create.
Give the policy a Name and Description.
- Name: WIN – DVC – Enable Windows Backup
- Description: This policy enables Windows Backup on the device
Choose Next. Then choose Add settings and search for Enable Windows Backup and add the setting to your Policy and Enable it. Then choose Next to continue.
Skip Scope Tags for now (but if you use them, feel free to apply), choose Next. At Assignments I’ll use All Devices during this blog, but you can also use dynamic device groups for your supported Windows 11 builds. Then choose Next.
Review your policy settings and choose Create, and our policy is ready to go.
Now that our policy is created, what does this mean for the user experience?
User Experience
If our device has a compatible Windows 11 build, you’ll notice that the Windows Backup app is available.
Now open the Windows Backup app, If a backup job has already been run, you will see that Apps and Settings have the status Backed up.
As discussed in the beginning of the blog post, every 8 days there will be a Scheduled Task running to perform a backup. Now if you want to run a manual backup, you just choose Continue. Your manual back job will start, and once the job is finished, just choose Close.
But when is this backup useful? When the device is replaced or wiped, we can now choose the option to restore this backup during device enrollment. This results in Settings and Microsoft Apps (a list of apps, which means the apps are reinstalled) that are included in the backup job.
During enrollment you’ll get a Welcome Back screen, where you can choose to Restore from your PC backup, if you choose More options, you can choose between Set up as a new PC (and don’t restore) or Continue (where your device will be restored).
It can be that simple to activate Windows Backup for Organisations with Microsoft Intune.
Conclusion
By leveraging Windows Backup for Organizations through Microsoft Intune, organizations not only protect their digital assets but also enhance resilience and productivity. This feature transforms backup from a reactive safeguard into a proactive strategy, ensuring that every employee can work confidently, knowing their device is secure and always recoverable.
