How to Reset a Windows 10 PC to Factory Settings
Although Windows 10 is a reliable operating system, it can face many problems over time. You may experience startup or shutdown issues, excessive memory usage, the performance of running apps, and rapid battery drain. To solve these problems, one of the solutions is factory reset.
If you experience persistent performance issues, Windows 10 has several recovery options to factory reset the system and keep or delete your files to fix common problems and improve performance.
Note that before performing the following steps, be sure to back up your vital and important information.
How to reset a Windows 10 computer? Using the Keep my files option
In this method, you will learn how to reset Windows 10 without erasing data. You can restore your operating system to factory settings without deleting your apps or files by doing this:
Enter Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Recovery.
In the Reset, this PC section, click the Get Started button.
Click on the Keep my files option.
Choose one of the following options:
Cloud download: download a new version of the installation from the cloud and reinstall Windows. However, this option does not restore the tools, programs, and configurations provided with the original image provided by the manufacturer.
Click Next.
After the factory reset of Windows 10, check the programs that you need to reinstall.
Click the Reset button.
After completing the steps, Windows will be reset to factory settings and your files will not be deleted.
What should I do after factory resetting Windows 10?
After the Windows 10 factory reset, you should still check for updates to make sure that Windows 10 is not missing any patches or drivers, and you should also reinstall some programs.
To check for updates
Use the following steps to install the Windows 10 update:
Enter Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click Windows Update.
Click on Check for updates.
Once you’ve completed these steps, Windows Update will download and install any missing updates and drivers.
Check drivers
To check for missing drivers after factory resetting Windows 10, use the following steps:
Open Start.
Search for Device Manager and click the most relevant result to open the tool.
Make sure there isn’t a category called Other Devices that usually lists missing drivers.
If you have one or more missing drivers, you can proceed to install them.
The last thing left to do is reinstall any apps you’ve already installed that you need.
Factory reset Asus, Acer, HP, and… Windows 10 with Remove Everything
If you want to erase all your system data with a factory reset, you must use the following steps:
Enter Windows Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Recovery.
In the Reset, this PC section, click the Get Started button.
Click on the Remove Everything option.
Choose one of the following options:
Cloud download: download a new version of the installation from the cloud and reinstall Windows. However, this option does not restore the tools, programs, and configurations provided with the original image provided by the manufacturer.
Local reinstall: uses existing files to reset the system. If you have a branded device like Dell, ASUS, Lenovo, etc., this process will restore drivers, settings, etc.
Click on the Change Settings option (optional).
If you have multiple drives and just want to clear the installation storage, enable the Delete files from all drives option (optional).
Click the Confirm button.
Click on Show Me the list of drives that will be affected to view the drives that will be deleted during the reset process.
Click the Back button, then Next, and then Reset.
After completing the above steps, the wizard will wipe the system drives depending on your choice and reinstall a new version of Windows 10 and restore the factory settings.
But if you are asking how long it takes to reset Windows 10, we must say that this time depends on various factors such as data volume, processor speed, etc.
What should I do after factory resetting Windows 10?
If you plan to sell your system, you don’t need to do anything. However, if it updates the device to start with a clean install, you should still check for updates, make sure you don’t have any missing drivers, reinstall programs, and copy your files from the Restore previous support.
To check for updates
Use the following steps to install the Windows 10 update:
Once you’ve completed these steps, Windows Update will download and install any missing updates and drivers.
Check drivers
To check for missing drivers after factory resetting Windows 10, use the following steps:
Open Start.
Search for Device Manager and click the most relevant result to open the tool.
Make sure there isn’t a category called Other Devices that usually lists missing drivers.
If you have one or more missing drivers, you can proceed to install them.
Personal file recovery
Finally, you need to restore your files from the backup. This process depends on the method you choose to back up your files.
If you use OneDrive to back up your files, files may already be syncing in the background. However, if it doesn’t, you may need to reconfigure the app.
If you have created a copy of your files on an external drive, connect the drive to your system and use these steps:
Open File Explorer.
Click on Thin PC from the left.
In the Devices and Drives section, double-click on the backup file.
Select files and folders.
From the Home tab, click on the Copy to button.
Select the destination folder and paste.
After completing the steps, you may need to repeat the steps to recover other files.
Finally, make sure that you install any programs that you previously used on the system.
How to factory reset Windows 10? with Windows installation media
You can use the Windows installation media to factory reset your Windows 10. This method allows you to install a fresh version of Windows on your system and erase all the data you currently have on your system. So, if you are looking to reset Windows 10 without removing programs, do not use this method.
Since your drive is bootable, connect it to the device of your choice. Turn on the system and wait for your USB drive to be detected. If this does not happen, restart the system, this time press the key related to the BIOS of your system to enter the BIOS of your system. Make sure you select the USB drive as the primary device.
Restart the system. After uploading the site, you can run the installation wizard with the USB drive to install Windows 10.
Factory reset Windows 10 through Advanced options
While the methods mentioned above work for most users, there is another way to factory reset Windows 10 that users who can log into Windows can use. You can start the Windows reset process from the Advanced Startup menu.
To use this menu, if Windows is working properly, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. In the Advanced Startup section, click Restart Now to get to Advanced Startup.
You can also enter the Start menu and select the Power menu and then click the Shift key with the Restart button. If you don’t want to do any of these things, you can press the F11 key when the system boots to see Advanced Startup. In case of success, Windows will show you Advanced Startup after 3 unsuccessful boot times.
Once you access Advanced Startup, select Troubleshoot, then select Reset This PC. Now you can use the same steps to reset Windows 10 that we explained above.
Windows 10 factory reset for old versions
If you are using an older version of Windows 10, Microsoft offers another method to reset. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery, and click on the link Learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of Windows. This will open Windows Security and show the Fresh Start option. Click Get Start to continue.
Note that if you are using at least Windows 10 version 2004, clicking on this link will open Microsoft’s Fresh Start page in your browser.
Choose one of the following options here:
Fresh Start always keeps your personal files and does a factory reset.
Fresh Start downloads the latest version of Windows 10 from Microsoft downloads the latest version of Windows 10 from the Microsoft site and does not have the option to reinstall from local files.
That’s why Fresh Start prevents clutter by removing all non-standard Windows programs (including bloatware programs). The only exception is Microsoft Store apps that are installed by the manufacturer and remain.
Finally, Fresh Start keeps some Windows settings but doesn’t specify which ones. The above reset process does not keep any of your settings.
In short, it downloads the latest version of Windows 10, keeps your files and some settings, and doesn’t leave any software behind other than Microsoft Store apps. In comparison, the standard reset option allows you to keep your files; It does not save any settings, installs the same version of Windows, and allows us to choose how to reinstall the operating system.
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