How to restore Windows to factory settings

Step
1

First, you need to open the Settings menu. To do this, either go to the “Start” menu and click on the gear icon, or enter “Settings” in the search bar at the bottom.

Step
2

Go to Updates & Security

Once you enter the main settings menu, you will be greeted with a panel with various options. Since we’re resetting Windows to factory settings, we’ll need to go to Updates and Security.

Step
3

Select “Recovery” from the sidebar

When you enter the Updates and Security menu, scroll to the left side, where you’ll see a sidebar. From there, click the option labeled “Recovery” – this is about halfway down the list.

Step
4

Click the Getting Started button.

At the top of the Recovery menu there is an option labeled “Reset this computer”. Below the ad slot, you’ll see a button labeled “Get Started” – clicking on it will open the reset menu.

Step
5

Select either “Remove all” or “Save my files”

You can now select “Remove All” or “Save My Files”. The first option will delete your entire device, while the second option will remove everything except your personal files.

Selecting “Save My Files” will begin the reset process, while pressing “Remove All” will display another screen where you can choose to remove files from your device or delete the device completely. If you want to reset the device completely, we suggest you choose the second option.