How to return Windows 11 to factory settings with a single command

“Reset”, “Restore” or “Recover” an operating system like Windows 11 means returning it to its factory settings as it was when we installed it for the first time . There are different ways to do it, but today we propose the fastest, through a single command in the Windows console.

Restoring Windows 11 to factory settings is a maintenance task that any user should know because sooner or later they will have to use it. And it is that any operating system, and more Windows, ends up degrading with the mere passage of time and use due to the installation / uninstallation of applications, drivers, failures in any update of the same system or the introduction of some type of malware of the that no one is safe.

You will notice it in the event of random or chronic system failures, various slowdowns in its execution or increased boot time due to the increased load at startup, added services or greater requirements for the system registry, a database where the operating system stores everything type of information and that does not stop increasing from the same installation. Personally, I take it as a regular maintenance task to be carried out from time to time as a way of anticipating errors that will end up arriving.

Reset Windows 11 with a single command

This internal maintenance task is halfway between creating restore points and easier and faster to perform than a complete installation from scratch. Microsoft improved it from Windows 10 by adding the interesting novelty of reinstallation from the cloud, without the need to use physical recovery media or use local files, sometimes problematic if we have files that are corrupt or affected by malware.

If your PC is not working properly or, as we said, you use it as a regular maintenance task, you can access this internal tool from the general Settings application> Update and security> Recovery> Reset.

But there is another option that is even faster and that shows the possibilities of the Windows console, in this case in its simplest variant of the command line. You can access it in several ways as we propose in this basic tutorial that consists of only two steps, not without recommending that you always make a backup copy of your personal files when we use this type of application:

  • Right-click on the start button and select Command Prompt (Admin).

  • In the terminal type the command systemreset --factoryreset
  • There is nothing else to do except choose between the two options that you will see in the image:

They are self explanatory. In both cases, applications and system settings will be removed because the tool will access Windows RE (the Windows recovery environment), wiping and formatting the partitions before installing a fresh copy of Windows 10.

If you use the “Keep my files” option , the tool will make a copy of them to return them to their original place once the system is installed. In the case of opting for the “Remove everything” option , the tool will allow you to save the files placed on other storage units outside of the main one where the operating system is installed, but as we recommend, it is preferable to do so beforehand.

For the effective restoration you can choose to use local drives or the new option using the cloud. This option has been available in macOS and in various GNU/Linux distributions (such as Debian) for years and was incorporated in the latest versions of Windows 10. It is a very useful option since it allows you to recover damaged computers or restore systems to a clean copy without having to installation media or use local recovery partitions or images.

Once the process is done, you can access Windows Update to update the system to the latest version of security and features, install the applications and games you need, and the drivers provided by Microsoft or by the manufacturer of the equipment or components.

We insist. Resetting Windows 11 is a very useful function that can be done in a variety of ways, all of which are very easy to handle. Do not doubt that you will have to use it due to some error, destabilization of the system

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