How to reset Windows 10 if it won’t boot

Contents

Toggle

Media Creation Tool always downloads a fresh image with the latest updates. So it is highly recommended to create a bootable USB with the tool right before the reset. Below you will find a step-by-step guide on how to reset Windows 10 even if the OS doesn’t boot.

1. Download Microsoft Media Creation Tool

Go to the official Micosoft site:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/home

Choose you OS version:

Download Media Creation Tool for your OS version:

Attention! There are two different versions of Microsoft Media Creation Tool for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. They are different even by their file size.

2. Create bootable media

launch the Media Creation Tool.
Choose Create installation media for another PC:

Select language, edition and architecture. If you leave Use the recommended options for this PC checked you will create a bootable media with exactly the same OS as you are currently running:

Than you need to connect the USB flash, press Next and wait until the media is created.

3. Boot from USB and reset Windows 10

When the USB flash drive is ready reboot your PC and boot from USB flash. Press any key when you see this:

Select Time and currency, input method and press Next:

In this window click on Repair your computer:

Click Trobleshoot:

Reset this PC:

Here it is recommended to select Remove everything:

Select your OS:

Wait…

For most cases it will be suitable to clean only the drive containing OS Windows:

Here click on Just remove my files if you don’t plan to sell your PC:

Press Reset to start the reset procedure:

If everything went OK you may want to delete Windows.old folder with your previous Windows installation.

Adam Swift

Adam is a real tech maniac. He likes to spend time testing phones, tablets, laptops, as well as any other technical devices, and write practical manuals on their functions. He often sleeps all day, but always works at night. Adam bought his first computer in 1999, being an absolute beginner who never held a computer mouse in his hands. He began to study Windows, constantly experimented and often crashed the operating system. But six months later, he was able to reinstall Windows 98 from a scratch on his own, fix almost any software problem on a PC, he also did hardware upgrades and realized that computers, operating systems and programs are now his biggest passion. In addition, Adam has always been a big lover of phones. With the advent of smartphones with Android OS, he began to pick at them much more than in computers. Now Adam loves to study privacy issues in instant messengers, blocking unwanted calls and other nuances related to privacy and security on the network. You can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tunecomp

Next How to fix browser shortcuts, modified by malware »

Previous « How to enable the system restore in Windows 10