How to factory reset a Windows PC, laptop or tablet

In Windows 10 the process is a lot easier with a built-in tool for resetting a PC. Open the Start menu and select
Settings (the cog wheel). Now type 'reset' in the search bar and select 'Reset this PC' on the left when th results appear.

It's under the Recvory section of Update & Security and you can now hit 'Get started' to begin the process. During this you can select if you would like to keep filles or do a full reset.

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this will work for Windows 7 and previous versions but Windows 8 laptops will typically have a recovery application which is launched from within Windows so check your app menu.

[b[Step One[/b]

Backup any data which you wish to keep before performing a factory reset. You will probably want to copy everything from your user folders, including documents, photos, music and videos. The factory reset will delete all these along with any programs you've installed since you got your laptop.

Step Two

Start-up or reboot your laptop.

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Step Three

During the start-up process, hit the appropriate F key or key combination which we have listed below for your manufacturer.

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Note: There is often a small window of opportunity to strike the key so don't worry if it takes you a few attempts. We advise pressing the key multiple times.

Acer – Alt + F10

Asus – F9

Dell/Alienware – F8

HP – F11

Lenovo – F11

MSI – F3

Samsung – F4

Sony – F10

Toshiba – 0 (not numpad) while turning on, release key when Toshiba logo appears

If these keys don't work then look out for a message in the screen during startup which might indicate how to start the recovery process. You might need to check your recovery partition is enabled in the BIOS. It's also possible your laptop might not have a recovery partition (or it may have been deleted) so we're making no guarantees here. You might need to contact your manufacturer.

Step Four

You should see instructions on the screen explaining how to proceed. Different manufacturers use different software to restore the 'disk image' from the recovery partition, so we can't provide specific guidance. However, the process is almost always automatic once you've confirmed you definitely want to proceed, so it might be a case of waiting for 30 minutes for the job to happen in one go, but some systems restore Windows first, and then install drivers and programs automatically when Windows first boots. If that's the case, don't try to do anything until you see a message saying the restore has finished.