Does Windows 11 support incremental backups to a network drive out of the box?

If the answer to my question in the subject is “yes,” how would I set that up? Does it require Windows 11 Pro? How would I restore a specific file (hypothetically deleted by accident)?

No. The NAS drive does not get automatically set up, had its own software for the initial setup. My NAS drive [Buffalo LinkStation] is connected to my Wireless Router via Ethernet cable and can be reached by any computer connected to the Router either Wired or Wireless/Wi-Fi that I Map the drive on. I don't use a backup program, simply copy any files I want access to into a folder on the drive. I can Map the drive on Win7, Win10 and Win11, either Home or Pro.

Well, I am looking for something functionally similar to Time Machine on macOS.

As far as I can tell, what windows calls back up really is just a cloud drive mirror. That kind of solution does not protect against accidental deletions.

i am not sure if this is of help .. but ..
in the control panel there is a program called 'file history'
which you can setup to copy the file system which includes personal files and folders
you can set this up to save this to another drive so if a file/folder was deleted on the system you could restore that file/folder.

I hope this is of some help. best of luck. Steve ..

XxXxX said:

in the control panel there is a program called 'file history'

Click to expand...

I found it, too, through a different, circuitous route, via Settings → Update and Security → Files backup → Back up using File History → More options (Backup options) → See advanced settings.

The problem with this is that it only runs, when the user is logged in. That’s crap!