How to perform a factory reset in Windows 11

How to perform a factory reset in Windows 11 To start the factory reset process in Windows 11, click Start > Settings > System > Recovery Then, select Reset PC. You can also start the Reset PC operation from the sign-in screen or by using a recovery drive or installation media to enter recovery mode during boot-up. Press the shift key while selecting Restart to boot into local recovery mode. The 'Recovery' screen in the Windows 11 system settings. . The option to reset the PC is under 'Recovery' in the 'System' section of settings. From there, the screen will show two options The option you choose depends on how you plan on using the PC after resetting it. If it's a last-ditch repair operation, it's easiest to select Keep my files. If you're prepping for sale or handoff, choose Remove everything. The 'Choose an option' screen in 'Reset this PC' process, showing options to 'Keep my files' or 'Remove everything.' Reset options let you keep personal files or get rid of everything. After clicking on the desired option, you can choose how you want to reinstall Windows Choosing Cloud download will download the Windows install file from Windows servers in the cloud. This option is safest if you think your local installation is corrupt or damaged. Choosing Local reinstall will download the Windows install file from the current Windows files on your PC. This option is faster but not immune to local issues. Unless the local Windows drive is compromised, however, it should work. For best results, choose the Cloud download. The screen showing 'Cloud download' and 'Local reinstall' as the options for how you can reinstall Windows. You can download the Windows install image from the cloud or from your Windows drive. After choosing either reinstall option, the screen will show Additional settings. To continue the process with no settings changes, click Next. If you want to make changes, click Change settings. From there, you can clean the drive completely by toggling Yes under Clean data? or download Windows from the cloud by toggling No under Download Windows? The 'Choose settings' screen, which appears if you select 'Change settings' at the previous step. . If you click 'Change settings' in the preceding step, you can revisit options here. Once you confirm your choices, a final confirmation screen will appear. After you select Reset, the process will begin This is your final chance to cancel the reset. If you allow this step to proceed and don't click Cancel at any point, you can no longer reverse the reset process. You'll have to let it complete and then restore a backup to return to where you started. The 'Preparing to reset' screen, showing how ready the PC is for reset and giving the option to cancel. The reset process does some preparation work before it reboots the PC. Finally, the PC reboots and runs the Windows install that drives the chosen reset operation. The installer will run through a series of prompts to complete the install once the OS is in place. These include prompts for country or region, language, keyboard layout and privacy settings.