How to Back Up Installed Drivers in Windows 11

Windows keeps installable driver packages in the Driver Store. Microsoft describes that store as a trusted collection containing both inbox and non-Microsoft packages; a package must be staged there before Windows can install it for a device. A package includes its INF and the files referenced by that INF, with Windows validating the package before staging it.

For a practical pre-reinstall backup, PnPUtil can export third-party driver packages from the current Driver Store to a normal folder. This is useful when a PC depends on an OEM network, storage, chipset, audio or other device package that may be inconvenient to obtain while the rebuilt machine is offline. It is not a complete Windows backup and it does not preserve every piece of vendor software associated with those devices.

Create a destination such as an external drive or another volume that will not be erased during the Windows reinstall. For example, you might create E:\DriverBackup on a removable drive. Do not make the only copy inside a Windows partition you plan to format.

Keep the exported directory intact after the command completes. Driver packages contain multiple related files; copying only a DLL, SYS file or an INF by itself can leave you without the complete package Windows expects to stage.

Open Windows Terminal or Command Prompt as administrator and run `pnputil /enum-drivers`. Microsoft documents this command as enumerating all third-party driver packages in the Driver Store. On Windows 11 version 22H2 and later, the optional `/files` flag can also enumerate the package files.

This inventory is worth saving or reviewing before a clean installation because it tells you which third-party packages are actually staged on the current system. It also gives you published names such as oem42.inf, provider names, classes and versions that can help identify an unusual OEM package later.

From the elevated terminal, run `pnputil /export-driver * "E:\DriverBackup"`, replacing the example path with your existing destination folder. Microsoft documents `/export-driver <oem#.inf | *> <target directory>` for exporting driver packages from the Driver Store; the asterisk selects the third-party packages rather than requiring each published INF name individually.

PnPUtil is built into Windows, so this workflow does not require a third-party driver-backup utility. Let the command finish and review its output for failures instead of assuming that the presence of a few folders means every package exported successfully.

Open the destination and confirm that it contains the exported package directories and their INF-related files. If the backup is important because the PC may have no network access after reinstalling Windows, keep it on removable storage and, ideally, keep a second copy elsewhere before erasing the old installation.

For especially important hardware, also save the exact PC, motherboard, laptop or add-in-card model and the vendor support page separately. An exported package is a recovery option for the version already staged on this PC; it does not tell you whether the manufacturer has since released a newer supported package.

After reinstalling Windows, first let Windows identify the hardware and use its normal driver-selection process. If a device still needs one of the preserved packages, PnPUtil can stage a specific INF with `pnputil /add-driver <filename.inf>`, or process matching INF files in subdirectories with `/subdirs`. The optional `/install` flag asks PnPUtil to install or update the driver on matching devices.

Do not interpret `/install` as a force switch. Microsoft notes that PnPUtil will not force a package onto a device when that driver is not the highest-ranked match. More importantly, bulk-installing every historical package is usually unnecessary: restore what the actual hardware needs, prefer a current supported OEM package when one is available, and verify Device Manager afterward.

A driver-store export is not a system image, restore point, app backup or copy of your user profile. Vendor applications such as audio control panels, RGB tools, printer suites, GPU companion software and laptop utilities can be distributed separately from the INF-based driver package and therefore need their own installation path.

Firmware is separate as well. A BIOS/UEFI image, SSD firmware updater, dock firmware package or device configuration stored outside the driver package is not preserved merely because the related Windows driver was exported. Before a destructive reinstall, back up user data independently and preserve any recovery material, encryption keys and installers that your actual setup requires.

The workflow is most valuable before a clean installation on hardware with obscure or OEM-specific devices, before troubleshooting a machine that may lose network access, or when preserving a known-working package for later diagnosis. It is less important as a substitute for a vendor download when the exact current package is easy to obtain and you already have reliable internet access.

Think of the export as a local package archive, not as a promise that the old driver is the best driver for the rebuilt system. Its strength is that it preserves the third-party packages Windows already trusted and staged on this installation, giving you an offline fallback without relying on generic driver-download sites.