On Windows 11, the “Reset this PC” feature allows you to quickly reset a computer while keeping your files and reinstalling the operating system using the locally available image or downloading a fresh image from the cloud. Although using either of these options won’t delete your files, the process will remove your apps and reset the settings to their factory defaults since they can be part of the problem. In this guide, you will learn the steps to use the “Reset this PC” feature to reinstall Windows 11 after an upgrade if the device is having problems or dealing with apps or system configuration issues.
Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files (local reinstall) Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files (cloud download) Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files from WinRE
Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files (local reinstall)
To reset Windows 11 while keeping files with the local reinstall option, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, the feature will reset Windows 11 using the locally available image, keeping all your files. However, this process will reset all the settings to their factory defaults and remove all the apps and programs installed in the current setup. The time to complete the process is around 20 minutes.
It’s important to note that you cannot keep your apps because the point of resetting Windows 11 is to fix problems that can be caused either by the operating system or applications.
Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files (cloud download)
To reset Windows 11 while keeping files using the “Cloud download” option, use these steps: After you complete the steps, a fresh image of Windows 11 will download and be used to reset the device keeping all of your files. However, similar to the local reinstall option, the settings will be reset, and apps will be removed through this process. The time to complete the process is around 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your internet connection.
Windows 11 reset this PC keeping files from WinRE
To reset a computer using local reinstall or cloud download from Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), use these steps: Once you complete the steps, the feature will take over and reset the computer to default settings by erasing and reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows 11 downloaded from the Microsoft servers. The time to finish the reset is around 20 minutes.
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