Reset Windows: keep your files, or start completely fresh

Steps

1. 01
   • Back up first, whatever the reset promises. Keep my files preserves documents and photos and nothing else, and a reset that fails partway can leave you with neither.
2. 02
   • Gather what you will lose: application licence keys, browser profiles, two-factor recovery codes, and anything saved only inside an app. Every installed program goes.
3. 03
   • Open Settings, System, Recovery and click Reset PC. Choose Keep my files, then Local reinstall if Windows is otherwise healthy or Cloud download if the local files are damaged.
4. 04
   • Leave it plugged in and let it run. It restarts several times and can take an hour or more on older hardware, and interrupting it is what turns a reset into a reinstall.
5. 05
   • Reinstall your apps deliberately rather than all at once. A reset is the cleanest chance you get to leave behind whatever was slowing the machine down.
6. 06

   After malware or a stranger's remote access, choose Remove everything instead

   Keep my files leaves your personal files exactly as they are, so anything unwanted stored among them comes through the reset untouched

   • Copy the documents and photos you need to an external drive or cloud storage first — Remove everything deletes them from the PC
   • If the drive is encrypted, have your BitLocker recovery key to hand before you start

   Windows 11

   • Windows 11:Settings›System›Recovery›Reset PC›Remove everything

   Windows 10

   • Windows 10:Start›Settings›Update & Security›Recovery›Get started›Remove everything

   • After malware or remote access, we recommend choosing Cloud download, so Windows is reinstalled from a fresh copy rather than from the files already on the PC
   • Leave Clean data off unless you are giving the PC away — it is meant for that, and takes much longer
   • Afterwards, install apps again from their official sources, copy back only the files you need, and change your passwords from another device

   ✓You should see: Windows starting as it would on a new PC, with none of your old apps or files on it.

   !Careful: Remove everything deletes all your personal files, apps and settings, and it cannot be undone — finish the backup first. During the reset the screen can stay black for up to 15 minutes; Microsoft says not to restart the PC yourself, because that can make the reset fail.

   Why?

   Microsoft describes Remove everything as reinstalling Windows and removing all your personal files, apps and settings, and its advice for a PC a scammer had remote access to is to reset the device. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre says a PC that antivirus cannot fix should be wiped entirely and Windows reinstalled.

   Also see: Back up properly (3-2-1 rule) · Turn on full-disk encryption (BitLocker) · Think your PC has a virus? Scan it properly · Think someone got into your accounts? Lock them down