System Restore is one of the lesser-known but brilliant features of the Windows operating system. The feature lets users restore Windows 11 to a previous date without losing data.
The best part about the System Restore feature is that it allows us to restore Windows 11 even if it’s not booting up. In short, the feature comes in handy when something goes terribly wrong with Windows 11 after installing an update or making changes to the operating system.
In order to restore Windows 11 to an earlier date, we need to enable and create system restore points.
What is a system restore point?
A system restore point is the state of the Windows operating system, drivers, and installed apps at the time of the restore point creation. When you roll back to a specific restore point, the state of Windows files, settings, drivers, and apps is restored. It does not include your personal files.
If enabled, Windows 11 automatically creates a new restore point before installing updates and drivers. That said, we recommend you create a restore point before making any major changes to the operating system.
Manually create a restore point in Windows 11
Step 1: In the Start menu search bar or taskbar search box, type Create a restore point and then press the Enter key to open the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog.
Step 2: The System Protection tab shows the current status of the System Restore feature for the Windows 11 drive. You cannot create a new system restore point if the System Restore feature is disabled for the Windows 11 drive.
How do we check the status of the System Restore feature? It’s easy. In the Protection Settings section, you should see “On” in the Protection column next to the System drive, as you can see in the picture below. If the feature is disabled, it shows “Off” next to the System drive.
To turn on the System Restore feature, select the System drive, click the Configure button, click the Turn on system protection option in the resulting dialog box before clicking the Apply button.
Step 3: To create a new system restore point, click the Create button present in the System Protection tab.
Step 4: When you get the following dialog, type a name for the restore point so that you can easily identify it.
Step 5: Finally, click the Create button to create a new system restore point.
Windows 11 might take a minute or two to finish creating a restore point. A “The restore point was created successfully” message once the restore point is created. You may close the dialog now.
Tip: To view all restore points, please refer to our how to view all restore points in Windows 11 guide.
Method 2 of 3
Create a system restore point via PowerShell in Windows 11
Step 1: Search for PowerShell. Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry in the search results and then click the Run as administrator option.
Click the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt to launch PowerShell as admin.
Step 2: At the PowerShell window, type (you can also copy and paste the command) one of the commands below and then press the Enter key to create a new restore point.
Checkpoint-Computer -Description “New Restore Point” -RestorePointType “MODIFY_SETTINGS”
Checkpoint-Computer -Description “New Restore Point” -RestorePointType “APPLICATION_INSTALL”
Checkpoint-Computer -Description “New Restore Point” -RestorePointType “DEVICE_DRIVER_INSTALL”
That’s it!
Method 3 of 3
Create a system restore point via Command Prompt in Windows 11
Did you know that you can create a restore point even from the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell? Here is how.
Step 1: Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: Type the following command to create a new restore point.
wmic.exe /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint “New Restore Point”, 100, 7
If the WMIC is not installed on your Windows 11 PC, refer to our how to install WMIC in Windows 11 guide.
In the above command, you may replace the “New Restore Point” with a name that you would like to assign to the restore point for easy recognition.
Leave a Reply