{"id":4092,"date":"2016-08-18T17:34:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T16:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hovatek.com\/?p=4092"},"modified":"2022-08-15T22:18:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T22:18:11","slug":"how-to-easily-reset-a-windows-10-pc-without-losing-your-important-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-easily-reset-a-windows-10-pc-without-losing-your-important-files\/","title":{"rendered":"How to easily reset a Windows 10 PC without losing your important files"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4093\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-8.jpg\" alt=\"How to easily reset windows 10 PC\" width=\"804\" height=\"630\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Its quite normal for your Windows 10 PC to slow down after several app installs. Lagging could also be as a result of driver, registry or malware issues. Although we&#8217;d dropped a very helpful guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-a-slow-hanging-or-crashing-pc\">how to fix a slow PC<\/a>, resetting is sometimes the easiest fix but the fear of losing important files deters many. This guide will teach you how to reset your Windows 10 PC and most importantly, not lose your valuable files.<\/p>\n<h3>Will I lose my files and installed applications after I reset?<\/h3>\n<p>Installed applications? Yes. Files? depending on your selection. As a rule of thumb, backup all your important files to an external storage device (SSD, HDD, SD card or Flash drive). This guide is however aimed at preventing file loss as a result of the Operating System (OS) reset.<\/p>\n<h3>How do I reset my Windows 10 PC and still not lose my files?<\/h3>\n<h3>* Note: Ensure that the PC&#8217;s battery is well charged or charging throughout the process (recommended) to avoid an interruption due to a drained battery.<\/h3>\n<p>There are two methods you could use:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reset from outside Windows<\/li>\n<li>Reset from within Windows (recommended)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To reset Windows 10 from outside Windows, follow our guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-install-windows-10-2\">how to install Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To reset from within Windows:<\/p>\n<p>Launch the Windows Start menu and click Settings<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4094\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-1.jpg\" alt=\"Resetting Windows 10\" width=\"891\" height=\"623\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Click Update &amp; security<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4095\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-2.jpg\" alt=\"Easily refresh Windows 10\" width=\"803\" height=\"632\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Click Recovery<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4096\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-3.jpg\" alt=\"how to wipe windows 10 laptop\" width=\"800\" height=\"632\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you wish to retain your files but remove apps and settings, select Keep my files (Recommended). If you wish to remove apps, settings and files, select Remove Everything.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4099\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-5.jpg\" alt=\"wiping a windows 10 computer\" width=\"799\" height=\"636\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Wait while the reset wizard gets ready<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-6.jpg\" alt=\"windows 10 reset wizard\" width=\"798\" height=\"636\" \/><\/p>\n<p>You should get a notification of what is to be removed<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-7.jpg\" alt=\"reset windows 10 without losing files\" width=\"800\" height=\"634\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Click Reset to commence the reset<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4103\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2016\/08\/How-to-easily-reset-a-Windows-10-PC-8-2.jpg\" alt=\"how to wipe windows 10 OS\" width=\"804\" height=\"630\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sit back and let the process complete. Once its done, you should find yourself in the Windows 10 setup menu.<br \/>\n* Note: It might take a while so fight off the temptation to interfere with the reset process.<\/p>\n<p>Hovatek&#8230;.just a button away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Its quite normal for your Windows 10 PC to slow down after several app installs. Lagging could also be as a result of driver, registry or malware issues. Although we&#8217;d dropped a very helpful guide on how to fix a slow PC, resetting is sometimes the easiest fix but the fear of losing important files [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[818],"tags":[29,65,80,102,126,142],"class_list":["post-4092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-backup-and-restore","tag-how-to","tag-laptop-desktop","tag-reset-windows","tag-tutorials","tag-windows-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}