You can usually fix most major problems with your PC by performing a factory reset, so today we’re going to show you how to factory reset your Windows 10 PC. The factory reset option was available in Windows 8, and since it was a useful feature, Microsoft decided to enhance it even further. Unlike Windows 8, Windows 10 doesn’t have a recovery partition available that works as an installation media. If you don’t know how to create a Windows 10 UEFI bootable USB, check out our dedicated article. However, by removing the recovery partition, users now have more storage space on their primary partition, and this is especially important for tablets or devices that use only SSD storage. With the recovery drive option removed, the only way to fix problems on your PC is to factory reset Windows 10, and there are several different ways to do that.
How can I perform a Windows 10 factory reset?
1. Via Settings
Open the Settings app by pressing Windows Key + I keyboard shortcut.
Navigate to Update & security section.
Go to Recovery tab and in Reset this PC section click on Get started button.
You’ll see two options available, Keep my files and Remove everything. The first option will remove all your installed applications, but it will keep your personal files. You’ll even get the list of all removed applications on your Desktop so you can download them again.
If you choose Keep my files option, follow the instructions on the screen to complete the reset.
If you have any major PC problems, you should always use the Keep my files option first, but bear in mind that this option will remove your installed applications, so you might want to back up some of your files. Although this option is great, it doesn’t always fix problems with Windows 10. If problems still persist, you need to use Remove everything option. To do that, follow these steps:
Open the Settings app, go to Update & security > Recovery and click the Get started button in Reset this PC section.
From the list of options choose Remove everything.
Now you can choose between two options, Just remove my files and Remove files and clean the drive. The first option will remove all your files and applications from the installation drive, but your files won’t be permanently removed, and some files might be recovered by special software. Most users use this option because it’s faster, so feel free to use it on your PC. If you choose this option, we strongly recommend to back up all your important files to an external storage device. Remove the files and clean the drive option will basically do the same thing, it will remove all your files and applications from the installation drive, with one small difference. By choosing this option, Windows will delete all your files and write zeros at their location, so you won’t be able to recover your files in any way.
Settings app allows you to change all sorts of system settings easily, but it also allows you to perform a factory reset and fix any major problems that you have with your PC. Resetting Windows 10 is fairly simple, and you can do it by following the steps above.
Keep in mind that the Remove everything option doesn’t affect your hard drive negatively in any way, it just writes zeroes instead of your data, thus making your data impossible to recover. This option is useful if you want to sell your PC, and you want to be sure that your personal files can’t be recovered. SPONSORED
This option allows you to clean only the installation drive or all drives that you have on your PC. If you plan to keep your PC, be sure to clean only the drive where Windows is installed.
Some users might have the Restore factory settings option and this option will revert your PC to the factory settings. Your PC will revert to the initial state your Windows came without any updates installed.
This mode will automatically start after your PC restarts a couple of times during the boot, but you can also enter Advanced Startup from Windows 10 by doing the following:
We have to mention that some branded PCs might have a Factory Image Restore option available from Advanced Startup, and you can also use this option to reset your Windows 10.
By using this option, you’ll reset Windows 10 to its original state with certain applications from the PC manufacturer installed. Keep in mind that not all PCs have this option available.
Before you can use the Recovery Drive, you’ll need to create it. Keep in mind that you’ll need a working version of Windows 10 in order to create the Recovery Drive.
We have to mention that 64-bit Recovery Drives work only with 64-bit versions of Windows 10. The same goes for the 32-bit version.
To create a Recovery Drive on Windows 10, do the following:
After creating the Recovery Drive, you can boot your PC from it and use the Recover from a drive option. If you want, you can also open access Advanced options or the Reset option.
To fix this problem, you can create your own system image and use it to reset your PC.
By creating a system image you’ll create your own backup with desired applications and settings and use it to reset Windows 10. To create a system image, do the following:
Keep in mind that system the image can be quite large and take up more than 10GB on your drive, so it might be better to store them on a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive. After creating a system image, you can reset your PC with it by following these steps:
We have to mention that by using a system image all the files that you created after making the image will be removed, so it might be a good idea to back up all your important files.
Even though this option isn’t as same as factory reset, it’s quite similar to it.
If you want to achieve similar results to a factory reset, be sure to create a system image as soon as you install your operating system and the necessary programs.
Moreover, if for any reason you are unable to perform the factory reset procedure on Windows 10, you can count on our nifty tips to get it done in no time.
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