Enable Shadow Copy on a Shared Folder in Windows Server 2012

In this article, we will learn how to enable the shadow copy on a shared folder in Windows servers. I will use windows server 2012 R2 as an example. First, let’s see what does shadow copy means and why it is recommended/important to enable the shadow copy in windows server.

Shadow copy or volume shadow copy service VSS is a technology which has been included in the Windows that permits the admins to take automatic or manual backup copies of files, folders, and volume drives.

The major advantage of shadow copy is that if any file is deleted accidentally or it has been corrupted then it can be restored and recovered to the previous version using VSS which means if you have deleted any important file then you restore it back using VSS.

Now let’s start the process, First log into the Windows server and click on File Explorer from the taskbar or press Windows key and E key together. Expand devices and drives and then right-click on the volume drive of your Windows server. In this case, I have one local disk.

Click on “Configure Shadow Copies” and it will open up shadow copies wizard.

In “Select a volume” there are a couple of options so I have selected the C drive and clicked on “Enabled”. Once it is enabled it will display the date and time under “Shadow copies of selected volume”

Click on date details and then open the settings by clicking on settings here we can choose different settings according to our need.

Click on “Schedule” and it will open a windows wizard where we can schedule the shadow copy.

Press Ok it will bring you back to settings windows and if you are done with the schedule and settings press Ok. In shadow copies window click Ok. Now VSS is configured and if you want to test its working right click on any of the document or file and select “restore previous version”