Backing up your files is an important task and it is recommended to backup your data regularly. Whether it is your smartphone or your computer, you need to backup your personal data and even app data as well. Windows 8 offers Refresh feature that retains your Windows Store Apps and App data while giving you the original default Windows settings. But what if you want to do a fresh install of Windows? When you reinstall Windows, you lose all the app data and apps that you had installed on the system.
All the settings that you have customized and all data in the apps will be lost. That’s when having a Microsoft account comes in handy, as Windows 8 automatically syncs all the Windows Store apps and app data. But if you don’t have it, you should consider backing up your data to hard drive.
A freeware app, Windows 8 Apps Data Backup proves to be a useful thing. The app requires no installation. It can efficiently backup app data on Windows 8.
Note: It requires .NET Framework 4.5 installed on your system to work.
To backup your App data on your Windows 8, follow these steps:
Run Windows 8 Apps Data, Backup.exe file. It will prompt you to close all the applications if running before using the app.
- You will get a window on your computer screen, click ‘Backup’ button. You will get a list of all applications installed on your computer, put a checkmark beside the app for which you want a backup. If you want to backup all, simply click ‘Select All’ button.
- Now, click ‘BACKUP NOW’ button. The application will directly prompt you to compress the backup data in a zip folder, click ‘Yes’.
Note: The option is quite beneficial when you have less space on hard disk and you can also save it on your USB drive.
- Now, choose the location where you want your backup data to be stored. For easy access, you can create a new folder named ‘Backup’ or any other name will do.
- Once done, you will receive a confirmation message on your computer screen.
This is the way to create a backup and once it is done, you can restore the app data on your Windows 8, after you finish installing OS.
Restore App Data in Windows 8
To restore app data, launch Windows 8 Apps Data Backup tool and click Restore button. Now select the backup folder or Zip file. Navigate to the location where you have saved it and hit ‘OK’
You will get the list of applications, select the ones for which you want to restore and hit the ‘Restore Now’ button. Once the process is completed, you will get a prompt.
Alternative Way To Backup Apps Data
Well, the aforementioned method is not the only way to backup app data in Windows. You can backup the data manually as well. All the Metro apps’ data is saved in C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages. The applications are stored in C:\Program Files\WindowsAPPS. All you need to do is go to the path and copy the data to another location. At the time of the restoring your backup data, just overwrite existing data files with those you saved earlier.
So, these are ways to get the app data for your Metro Apps on Windows 8 when you have installed a fresh copy of Windows.
