How to Reset your Windows 11 PC in an Emergency?

Windows is a popular PC operating system. It is used in many different countries, within many different organisations, all around the world. While Windows is definitely a highly reliable system, it is also true that there are no operating systems in existence that are completely infallible.

Things can sometimes go wrong, often for completely unforeseen reasons. Sometimes a seemingly harmless oversights can have harmful consequences. We spoke to one IT support company, TechQuarters, about what could go wrong with a computer. The short answer is that, basically, a computer – and its operating system – is a very complex entity and occasionally things can go wrong. But the good news is that virtually all modern operating systems have methods for resetting a PC, thus giving users a good change to undo whatever damage may have occurred.

With Windows, probably the most reliable solution to a computer that’s misbehaving, or even stopped working entirely, is to perform a full reset – which essentially restores the computer to the state it was in before you bought it, and reinstalls the operating system.

What to do before you reset…

A hard reset should be considered a last resort, because doing so will also erase all of the data that you have accumulated – including apps, data generated and stored in programs, app and system settings, files and documents, emails, etc. Everything will be erased when restoring a PC to its factory settings.

If you’re concerned about potentially having to revert your PC back to its system settings, then it is worth creating a backup of your system. There are a number of ways you can do this – for instance, Windows itself has the capability to create a system image that can be stored on a USB boot drive. This is one of the most reliable ways of ensuring that your data is protected. Of course, you can’t always anticipate when you will need to restore your system, and therefore you may have to restore from a backup that is not entirely up to date – however, this is still better than losing everything.

Reset Windows 11

Even if your computer and OS are working more or less normally, there still may be cause to perform a reset. For example, if you suspect that your system has been infected by some kind of virus, and you are concerned about whether you will be able to remove it, the best solution may just be to wipe the system and start again from scratch – as this will ensure that everything, including the virus, will be erased. Luckily, this method is the easiest to perform. Before you begin: Ensure your PC is plugged in.

• Go to Search in your taskbar (you can enable this in the Taskbar Settings)

• Type ‘reset’, the in the results, you should see Reset this PC. Click this result.

• The other way to do this is to open Start, select Settings. Go to System, and select Recovery.

• Begin by selecting Fix problems without resetting your PC.

• If this does not work, go ahead and select Reset PC.

• You will be presented with two options: Keep my files and Remove everything. If you are getting rid of the computer, select the latter. If you’re simply trying to resolve an issue with the software, select the former.

• The next step will present you with another two options: Cloud download or Local reinstall. The former option takes longer, but will provide a cleaner install of the OS.

• After that, you will be informed that all apps, files, and workplace provision packages will be removed.

• If you chose Local reinstall, you have the option to restore any preinstalled apps and settings that came with the PC – simply toggle-on, or leave it toggled off.

• If you chose Cloud download, you have 3 more options: Clean data (saying no will mean files are simply deleted), Delete workplace resources, and Download Windows (if you say no, the version on your device will be reinstalled).

• Whichever choices you selected, tap Confirm.

• The next window will say Ready to reset this PC. Click Reset.

Reset Outside Windows

What if the issue you are experiencing with the OS means you can’t perform the above actions? There are 3 more methods you can try.

Settings

• Go to Search in your taskbar (you can enable this in the Taskbar Settings)

• Type ‘reset’, the in the results, you should see Reset this PC. Click this result.

• The other way to do this is to open Start, select Settings. Go to System, and select Recovery.

• Go to Advanced startup, and press Restart Now.

• When the system has rebooted, you will see a blue screen titled Choose an option.

• Click Troubleshoot. It is worth exploring the Advanced options – there may be tools to help you fix the issue. But if you want to reset, select Startup Settings.

• From Startup Settings, select System Restore.

Sign-in screen

Sometimes, you might not be able to get past the sign-in screen before your PC starts acting up. If that is the case, there is a way of attempting the same process, but from the sign-in screen.

• Hold down Shift on your keyboard, and click the power icon in the corner.

• Continue to hold down Shift, and click Restart.

Reset From Blank Screen

If your PC isn’t even loading Windows, you may feel that all hope is lost. But there is one more option available to try. You may need to reattempt it a number of times, and the success rate of this final option is not high. But it all else fails, it can’t hurt to try this method.

• Press your power button to turn on your PC. When the manufacturer’s logo appears on your screen, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, or until the PC turns off again.

• Repeat this a second time.

• Turn your PC on once more, and you should now see the Choose an option screen.

• You can then go Advanced options > Choose an option > Troubleshoot > Reset this PC.