See Reset This PC: What It Is & How to Use It for more on this “solution of last resort” and when it’s a good idea to use. The great thing about the ASO menu is that there are at least a half-dozen ways to bring it up, which is super helpful considering that the tools there, like Reset This PC, can fix problems that are preventing you from using Windows normally. If Windows 11 or 10 is starting correctly, the best way to access the menu is via Settings; choose Settings from the Start menu (e.g., in Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Recovery). If it isn’t starting correctly, use the Repair your computer link after booting from your installation media or recovery drive. See How to Access Advanced Startup Options if you need some more help with either method, or you need some more options. We list several ways in that piece, so one is likely to work out. Once at the ASO menu, select Troubleshoot. As you’ll see, it says Lets you choose to keep or remove your files, and then reinstalls Windows, so don’t worry that you haven’t yet told Windows 11/10 to keep your personal files. That’s coming up next in Step 3. This screen looks a little different in Windows 8. Choose Refresh your PC if you want to reinstall Windows 8 but you want to keep your personal files (like saved music, documents, etc.), or Reset your PC if you want to reinstall Windows 8 without keeping any of your files. Skip to Step 5 of this tutorial after making that choice in Windows 8 or check out Step 3 (even though it’s for the Windows 11/10 folks) if you’re not sure which one to choose or are confused about what might happen. Choose either Keep my files, Remove everything, or Restore factory settings to continue. This is a very important choice, so we want to make sure you completely understand what you’re doing before you move forward:
Option 1: Keep My Files
Choose Keep my files to keep your personal files, remove all installed software and apps, and reinstall Windows 11/10 from scratch. Windows will back up your personal data and tuck it away safely while it reinstalls itself from scratch. When complete, Windows will appear much like when you first bought your computer or installed it yourself. You may need to reconfigure some custom settings, and you will need to reinstall any software you want again, but your saved files will be waiting for you.
Option 2: Remove Everything
Choose Remove everything to remove your personal files, remove all installed software and apps, and reinstall Windows 11/10 from scratch. Windows will erase everything on the drive its installed onto and then reinstall itself from scratch. When complete, Windows will appear much like when you first bought your computer or installed it yourself. You may need to reconfigure some custom settings and you will need to reinstall any software you want again.
Option 3: Restore Factory Settings
Choose Restore factory settings to remove your personal files, remove all installed software, and reinstall the operating system and preinstalled software that originally came with your computer. Windows will erase everything on the drive and then return your computer back to the exact state it was in when you first purchased in. In most cases, this means all the preinstalled software will be reinstalled and the version of Windows that was on your computer when you bought it will be there again.
Not Sure Which to Choose?
All options accomplish the same thing if you’re doing a Reset This PC to solve a major computer issue, so choosing Keep my files is the safer bet in most cases. The most common reason to choose Remove everything or Restore factory settings would be if you were selling or giving away the computer afterwards, and you wanted to make sure nothing of yours was left to dig up later. Starting over after a major malware infection is another good reason. One really easy way to protect yourself from mistakes with Reset This PC, or any process that might mean your important files are at risk, is to make sure you’re backing up! Online backup services are best, but traditional local backup software works, too. Select Cloud download to have your PC download fresh system files from Microsoft’s servers, and use those files to reinstall the OS. Select Local reinstall to have your PC use the system files already on your computer to reinstall the OS. Most people should choose the cloud option unless you have a reason not to. If you have a decent internet connection, this will work faster than the local option. This is also the only option here if your computer’s system files have become corrupted to the point that they’re unusable for a reinstallation. Instead of Windows starting up as usual, you’ll see this Preparing screen. This is pretty much what you’re thinking—the Reset This PC process is loading. There’s nothing to do here but wait, and probably only for several seconds. Go to Step 6 if you chose Keep my files (or Refresh your PC in Windows 8) Go to Step 8 if you chose Remove everything (or Reset your PC in Windows 8) Since you’ve chosen to keep your personal files, continuing with this process is restricted to someone that already has access to this computer. Select your account, or whatever account is listed that you know the password for. Enter the password for this account in the field provided and then press or click Continue, then go to Step 9 (Step 8 only applies if you had chosen not to keep your personal files). If you’ve forgotten your password, and you sign in to Windows with an email address, you can reset that password from any other computer or smartphone. See How to Reset Your Microsoft Account Password for help. If you don’t use an email address, or that doesn’t work, you have a short list of other options, all of which are explained in detail in I Forgot My Windows Password! What Are My Options?. Choose either Just remove my files or Fully clean the drive to continue.
Option 1: Just Remove My Files
Choose Just remove my files to continue as planned, removing everything and reinstalling Windows from scratch. Choose this option if you’re doing a Reset This PC to fix a computer problem you’re having and you plan on using the computer normally after it’s over.
Option 2: Fully Clean the Drive
Choose Fully clean the drive to removing everything, then wipe the drive clean, and finally reinstall Windows from scratch. Choose this option if, after the Reset This PC process is over, you plan on giving the computer away, selling it, or recycling the computer or hard drive. This option is also best if you’ve had serious malware issues you’re trying to get rid of, especially viruses that impact the boot sector. The Fully clean the drive method will take much longer than the Just remove my files one, adding anywhere from an hour to several hours to the total process.
More on the ‘Clean the Drive’ Option
For those of you curious, this cleaning of the drive is the same as a hard drive wipe, which is usually done manually before getting rid of a computer, outlined in our How to Wipe a Hard Drive tutorial. A wipe of a hard drive is a complete overwriting of the data that’s there, ensuring that no one can ever undelete or recover the files, no matter what tools are at their disposal. It’s not clear what specific data sanitization method Microsoft uses during the Reset This PC process, but we’d guess it’s a basic write-zero, probably via the format command. If you chose Keep my files, you’ll see the exact message in this screenshot, detailing exactly what Reset This PC will do: remove all apps and programs that didn’t come with this PC, change settings back to their defaults, and reinstall Windows without removing your personal files. Windows 8 lists the following that will happen after choosing Refresh your PC: your files and personalization settings won’t change, your PC settings will be changed back to their defaults, apps from the Windows Store will be kept, apps you installed from discs or websites will be removed, and a list of removed apps will be saved on your desktop. If you chose Remove everything, Windows says that Reset This PC will remove the following: all the personal files and user accounts on this PC, any apps and programs that didn’t come with this PC, and any changes made to settings. For Windows 8 users, resetting the whole PC will have the following effect: all your personal files and apps will be removed, and your PC settings will be changed back to their defaults. Choose Reset once you’re absolutely sure that this is what you want to do. In Windows 11/10, the Reset This PC process will begin immediately after you do this. In Windows 8, you may see a second button that you’ll need to press before continuing. During this first stage, all the data on your computer (technically, all the data on your primary drive) is being removed. If you decided to keep your personal files, those were backed up first. Expect this part of the reset process to take 15 to 45 minutes on most computers, after which your computer will automatically restart and begin the next stage. Exactly how long this takes depends on a lot of factors, like how fast your computer is, how much data you have on your computer, and the size of your personal file collection that’s being backed up (if you chose to do that), among other things. If you’ve chosen to clean the drive, expect instead for this process to take anywhere from 1 hour to several hours, depending almost entirely on how large the drive is. During this process, your computer will restart a few times by itself and this “Installing Windows” screen may flicker or flash in and out…all normal behavior during the Windows installation process. Expect this part of the reset process to take 10 to 30 minutes on most computers. You’re almost there! Just a few more things and you’ll be back to using your computer! If you chose to keep your files, expect this stage to take 5 minutes or less. You’ll be asked to sign in right away and may see a short screensaver-like series of screens with headings like This won’t take long and Taking care of a few things. If you chose to remove everything, expect this stage to take 10 to 20 minutes. You’ll first see screens with headings like Getting critical updates, be asked to answer a series of questions (the defaults provided are usually fine), your computer may restart, and you’ll finish up with This won’t take long and Taking care of a few things. Either way, you’re almost done… If you chose to have your personal files saved, expect to find them right where you left them on your Desktop, in your Documents folder, and elsewhere. Otherwise, your computer should be in about the same condition it was when you first purchased it, or first installed or upgraded Windows if you did that yourself.
Where Are All My Programs?
Reset This PC removed every non-original app and software program. In other words, any software you’ve installed will need to be installed again from scratch, by you. If you chose to keep your personal files, you may have a Removed Apps document on your Desktop with a list of apps that couldn’t be reinstalled, something that might be helpful at this stage.
