When facing problems on your Windows PC, you may need to try many troubleshooting steps to fix them. However, sometimes, even after applying various solutions, the issue persists, frustrating you to the core. At this point, you may wish to roll back your Windows OS to a previous state where everything was functioning correctly. That's exactly what Windows restore point lets you do.

Creating and utilizing restore points is pretty straightforward on Windows 10 or 11. But first, let's dive into what it means.

What is a Windows system restore point?

A system restore point is a snapshot of your Windows OS settings, apps, and other data at a specific time when it's created. This snapshot allows you to restore your OS in the event of system failure caused by faulty drivers, malicious app installations, failed updates, and other similar scenarios.

The system will be rolled back to the exact state it was in when the restore point was created. Not to worry, it doesn't affect your personal files, your information will not be lost; however, when rolling back and undoing the changes, any recently installed applications will be removed. Also, all the restore points will be eradicated during Windows feature updates.

To create a restore point, you need to have administrative rights and system protection enabled on the drive you want to restore. When configured, the system automatically creates restore points whenever significant changes are made. However, you can also manually create them when installing new software or drivers, updating Windows, and more.

How to configure and create restore points in Windows 10 or 11

In order to create a restore point for a drive, you first need to turn on system protection and assign the maximum hard disk space that system protection can use for restore points. After that, the process is straightforward.

Here are the steps to configure the system protection settings.

1. In the Windows search box, type "system restore" and click Create a restore point option from the search results.
2. Now, under the System Protection tab, if you haven't created a restore point before, you'll notice the Create button is grayed out. This is because you need to configure the settings before you can create a restore point. To do so, select the drive where you installed the Windows OS and click the Configure button.
3. Now, check the "Turn on system protection" option under the Restore Settings heading and use the slider under the Disk Space Usage to assign the space you want for the restore points.
4. Finally, click Apply and then OK.

Now, Windows OS will automatically create restore points before making major changes. To create one manually, follow these steps.

1. Under the System Protection tab, click the Create button at the bottom to begin the process.
2. Next, type the description for this restore point and click the Create button. This will help you recognize why you created it, such as "Before Windows Update."
3. Windows will begin the process of creating the restore point.
4. Wait for the successful completion of the process and finally click the Close button to exit.

You can create multiple restore points by following these steps.

How to roll back Windows to a restore point

When Windows can be booted

Once you have configured the system protection settings and have a restore point, while troubleshooting issues, you will be able to restore your system to any of the points which you have saved. This will roll your system back to the state where it was working fine.

If you can successfully boot Windows, here's how to restore it.

1. Press the Windows + R key combination on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type the rstrui.exe command and hit enter to launch the System Restore window.
3. Under the System Restore window, click Next to begin the restore process.
4. Now, select one of the restore points. Make your decision by checking the description and date. Before jumping to the next step, click the Scan for affected programs button to check which programs and drivers will be affected if you choose this restore point.
5. After choosing the point to restore your Windows and checking for affected programs, click Next.
6. Finally, click Finish to start the restore process.
7. When prompted by a warning message, click Yes.

That's it. Your system will be restarted utilizing the saved point which you have selected.

When Windows is unable to boot

Sometimes, Windows runs into severe trouble and won't boot, making it challenging to troubleshoot the root cause. However, if you have already configured and created the restore points, you can still roll back Windows to a previous state in this situation. Here's how to do that.

1. Force restart your system multiple times to trigger Automatic Repair Mode. Generally, it starts after the third force system restart.
2. Once Windows is in Automatic Repair Mode, navigate to the Advanced Options and select System Restore options under it.
3. Click Next to begin the system restore process.
4. Select one of the points to restore and click Next. You can also click the Scan for affected programs button to check which programs or drivers will be affected by this roll back.
5. Finally, click the Finish button to restore windows to the selected point.

After a restart, your system should be successfully booted to your chosen save point.

How to delete a restore point on Windows

If you are experiencing low disk space on your Windows drive, you can delete one or multiple restore points to free up space. Here's how.

1. Search for "restore point" in the Windows search box and select the Create a restore point option from the search results.
2. Under the System Protection tab, select the Windows drive and click the Configure button.
3. Now, under the Disk Space Usage heading, click the Delete button to eradicate all the restore points of the selected drive.
4. Next, click the Continue button to confirm deletion.
5. You'll see a success message. Click the Close button and exit the restore Window.

All the restore points you manually created and automatically created by the system will be permanently deleted.

Make troubleshooting easy with restore points

Windows users face many different issues, and sometimes, the last resort is to reset Windows. However, if you have configured and created restore points, you can avoid resetting Windows altogether and instead restore it to a previously saved point. Knowing how to create a restore point will help you with quick Windows troubleshooting and you'll be able to avoid unnecessary frustration.