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Backup and Restore Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Windows

How to Backup and Restore Permissions of Files, Folders, or Drives in Windows
Published by Shawn Brink Category: Backup & Restore
08 Jun 2018

How to Backup and Restore Permissions of Files, Folders, or

Drives in Windows

On NTFS and ReFS volumes, you can set security permissions on les and folders. These permissions grant
or deny access to the les and folders.

Every container (ex: folder) and object (ex: le) on the PC has a set of access control information attached
to it. Known as a security descriptor, this information controls the type of access allowed to users and
groups. The security descriptor is automatically created along with the container or object that is created.

When you are a member of a group (ex: "Administrators") that is associated with an object, you have some
ability to manage the permissions on that object. For those objects you own, you have full control.

Permissions are de ned within an object's security descriptor. Permissions are associated with, or
assigned to, speci c users and groups. For example, for the le Temp.dat, the built-in Administrators
group might be assigned Read, Write, and Delete permissions, while the Backup Operators group might
be assigned Read and Write permissions only.

Each assignment of permissions to a user or group is represented in the system as an access control entry
(ACE). The entire set of permission entries in a security descriptor is known as a permission set or access
control list (ACL). Thus, for a le named Temp.dat, the permission set includes two permission entries, one
for the built-in Administrators group and one for the Backup Operators group.

There are two types of permissions: explicit permissions and inherited permissions.
Explicit permissions are those that are set by default on non-child objects when the object is created,
or by user action on non-child, parent, or child objects.
See also: Change Permissions of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key for Users and Groups in
Windows 10
Inherited permissions are those that are propagated to an object from a parent object. Inherited
permissions ease the task of managing permissions and ensure consistency of permissions among all
objects within a given container.
Inherited Deny permissions do not prevent access to an object if the object has an explicit Allow
permission entry.
Explicit permissions take precedence over inherited permissions, even inherited Deny
permissions.

By default, objects within a container inherit the permissions from that container when the objects are ✖
created. For example, when you create a folder called MyFolder, all subfolders and les created within
MyFolder automatically inherit the permissions from that folder. Therefore, MyFolder has explicit
permissions, while all subfolders and les within it have inherited permissions.

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Substitute Full path of folder in the command above with the actual full path of the folder you
want to back up the permissions of this folder only.

If you like, you can substitute MyPermissions in the command above with the name you want
for the text le instead. This can make it easier to know what the .txt le is the backup for.

For example:
icacls "F:\MyFolder" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

5. Backup permissions of a folder, subfolder and files

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 7.

icacls "Full path of folder" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt" ,t ,c

Note

Substitute Full path of folder in the command above with the actual full path of the folder you
want to back up the permissions of this folder, subfolders and les.

If you like, you can substitute MyPermissions in the command above with the name you want
for the text le instead. This can make it easier to know what the .txt le is the backup for.

For example:
icacls "F:\MyFolder" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt" /t /c

6. Backup permissions of a drive, subfolder and files

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 7.

icacls "Drive letter:\*" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt" ,t ,c

Note

Substitute Drive letter in the command above with the actual drive letter you want to back up
the permissions of this drive, subfolders and les.

If you like, you can substitute MyPermissions in the command above with the name you want
for the text le instead. This can make it easier to know what the .txt le is the backup for.
✖
For example:
icacls "F:\*" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt" /t /c

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9/18/2020 Backup and Restore Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Windows | Tutorials
In Windows, you can back up the current permissions of a le, folder, or drive to a .txt le, and be able to
restore the permissions later if needed.
GET PROBLEM
This tutorial will show you how to backup and restore permissions for les, folders, and drives in Windows FREE PAYROLL
7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. TODAY
While you must be signed in as an administrator to backup and restore permissions.

CONTENTS:

Option One: To Backup Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Command Prompt

Option Two: To Restore Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Command Prompt

OPTION ONE
To Backup Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Command Prompt

1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Go the step below you want to do:

Step 3: Backup permissions of a le
Step 4: Backup permissions of a folder
Step 5: Backup permissions of a folder, subfolder and les
Step 6: Backup permissions of a drive, subfolder and les

3. Backup permissions of a file

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 7.

icacls "Full path of file" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

Note

Substitute Full path of le in the command above with the actual full path of the le with
extension you want to back up the permissions of this le only.

If you like, you can substitute MyPermissions in the command above with the name you want
for the text le instead. This can make it easier to know what the .txt le is the backup for.

For example:
icacls "F:\MyFolder\Lock.png" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

4. Backup permissions of a folder

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 7.

icacls "Full path of folder" /save "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt" ✖

Note

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7. You will now have a MyPermissions.txt le saved to your desktop that is the permissions backup of the le, folder, or drive.
You can move this text le to where you would like to keep it saved at.

8. When nished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

OPTION TWO
To Restore Permissions of File, Folder, or Drive in Command Prompt

1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Go the step below you want to do:

Step 3: Restore permissions of a le from backup
Step 4: Restore permissions of a folder from backup
Step 5: Restore permissions of a drive from backup

3. Restore permissions of a file from backup

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 6.

icacls "Back one path from full path of file" /restore "Full path of MyPermissions.txt file"

Note

Substitute Back one path from full path of le in the command above with the actual same
full path of the le from the backup (ex: "F:\MyFolder\Lock.png"), but back one path (ex:
"F:\MyFolder").

Substitute Full path of MyPermissions.txt le in the command above with the actual full path
of the text le with le extension created from step 3 in Option One.

For example:
icacls "F:\MyFolder" /restore "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

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4. Restore permissions of a folder from backup

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 6.

icacls "Back one path from full path of folder" /restore "Full path of MyPermissions.txt file"

Note

Substitute Back one path from full path of folder in the command above with the actual same
full path of the folder from the backup (ex: "F:\MyFolder"), but back one path (ex: "F:").

Substitute Full path of MyPermissions.txt le in the command above with the actual full path
of the text le with le extension created from step 4 in Option One or step 5 in Option One.

For example: icacls "F:" /restore "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

5. Restore permissions of a drive from backup

A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to Step 6.

icacls "Back one path from full path of drive" /restore "Full path of MyPermissions.txt file"

Note

Substitute Back one path from full path of drive in the command above with the actual same
full path of the folder from the backup (ex: "F:\*"), but back one path (ex: "F:").

Substitute Full path of MyPermissions.txt le in the command above with the actual full path
of the text le with le extension created from step 6 in Option One.

For example: icacls "F:" /restore "%UserProfile%\Desktop\MyPermissions.txt"

6. When nished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

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That's it,
Shawn

 Related Tutorials

Change Permissions of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key for Users
and Groups in Windows 10
Enable or Disable Inherited Permissions for Files and Folders in
Windows
How to Add Inherited Permissions Context Menu in Windows
How to Add List Permissions Context Menu in Windows
How to Add Reset Permissions to Context Menu in Windows
How to Add View Owner to Context Menu in Windows
How to Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10
How to Change Owner of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key in
Windows 10
How to Add Advanced security to context menu in Windows 8 and
Windows 10
How to Add or Remove Users from Groups in Windows 10
How to Remove Security tab from Drives, Files, and Folders
Properties in Windows 10
How to Backup and Restore Network Shares and Permissions in
Windows

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