Have a 1TB BU external drive that I noticed was getting filled up.<br>Found one of the problems in my "File History" where I saw multiple copies of the same data.<br>I've attached a small sample of one section of "File History" and the "Properties of 1 of the multiple files, "Annotations".<br>Read somewhere that this is normal and that only one copy would be restored but this doesn't help the load on the ext. drive.<br>Pete
Basically you have two options.
Go through all copies and delete those no longer required.
Or if you are a compulsive hoarder,then start up another drive and put the 1tb drive safely away.
If FH made a copy, it thought something had changed. If you are confident that all your source data for FH is there, you can run a FH cleanup (CP>FH>Advanced), which will remove all bar the latest copy.
Thanks for the replies.
I didn't realize I had that Cleanup option in File History. Just ran it and it didn't really clean the dups. If you look at the screenshot and look at the "Default icon, you'll see it was copied 38 times in 2020.
The main problem has been eliminated as a whooping over 400GB of data in the Downloads in the File History. Not on my PC. FH was duplicating everything I downloaded and I didn't bother checking there when I would delete from my normal "This PC/ Downloads".
I noticed that this was occurring back in W-8 but didn't see many complaints Googled after.
That attachment is after I did the cleanup, using the 1 year option. Just thinking now, I did it older then 1 Year. All these files are in 2020.
Did a 3 Month and it worked like I suppose its supposed to. Multiples only last 3 months.
My real question is, will the backup continue to make multiple copies?
Yes, every change is backed up as a separate file. I have to go in & use cleanup every so often to keep all but the latest version of my files.
Read a thread in the Microsoft Cummunity Forum where a MS Expert said that, yes, this was a problem in W-* and would be fixed in 10??
Hard to believe this is still happening.
Aren't others complaining???
I can’t see how it’s a bug as imo it’s working as intended. If it only created one file & updated this then how would a user restore an older version of that file if needed. File corruption happens & if it was backed up & no older version available then they’d be out of luck.
Its creating another copy of an unchanged file. Why would I want multiple copies of the same file?
What caused me to notice in the first place, was a warning that the 1 TB external drive where "File History" is located had redlined and was approaching its maximum.
I had a habit of, when opening, which downloaded as an example, of a .mov in a Facebook or other site. After viewing I would casually just x out the .mov, never giving any regard to where the .mov had been saved. This also includes all the .jpg type files.
These individual files piled up in the Downloads Folder in File History. Maybe 20 copies of a single .mov
I deleted all the data in the Downloads Folder which brought the ext drive from 7 GB free of 931GB to 345 BG Free of 931. I have other stuff in there like a full restore etc.
So why is, or was, it making multiple copies of the same unchanged file?
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