Reinstall Windows 11 with file retention

You may want to reinstall your Windows 11 computer for various reasons. Windows 11 is slow, has accumulated a lot of junk over time, or you have it Windows registry messed up and couldn't go back?

Fortunately, it is very easy to reset Windows 11 to factory settings. Here's the fastest way to get your Windows 11 computer repair is by performing a reset while retaining personal files.

Why reinstall Windows 11?

A reset restores your computer to its default settings and removes all programs and data installed after you purchased the computer. This means you will have to reinstall all the apps and data you had before the reset.

A Windows 11 reset is also recommended troubleshooting Windows Update issues, because it redownloads all necessary updates to ensure your computer is running the most recent version of Windows. Additionally, a reset will remove any viruses or malware that may have infected your computer. All in all, a Windows 11 reset can be a good way to get your computer working properly again.

You also always have the option to Windows 11 ISO download and manually create a new one Perform Windows 11 installation. However, that is not necessary as there is a built-in option to reset your PC and perform a clean installation. This article shows you how to reinstall Windows 11 from Windows itself without losing any personal files.

Reinstall Windows 11 while keeping personal files

Start with a right-click on the start button. Click on Settings in the start menu.

Click on System in the left menu. Then click on System Restore at the bottom.

Click on “Reset PC”. Choose whether to keep or delete your personal files, then reinstall Windows.

A new window will open with two options.

Keep my files. Apps and settings will be deleted, but your personal files will be retained.

Delete everything. This will delete all your personal files, apps and settings.

Click on “Keep my files”.

There are now two options available to reinstall Windows. You can Download windows from the Cloud or reinstall Windows from your local computer.

I recommend that you choose Reinstall Locally.

You can possibly change the installation method by clicking on change settings. Click next.

Sometimes you will receive a message that an update has recently been installed in Windows 11. If you continue with the installation, you cannot undo this update. Click next to continue.

The PC is now ready to be reset. The settings are restored to their initial values. Personal files are retained. Apps and programs are deleted.

Click on “Show apps being removed” to see which apps are affected.

You will see a list of apps that are being removed. Most of these apps require you to reinstall by downloading or reinstalling them from CD/DVD or USB. Click previous.

Click the Reset button to start the repair installation of Windows 11.

Preparing to reset Windows 11. The computer will restart when it is completed. This may take a while.

Windows will restart and the progress of the reset will be visible. Resetting the PC will take some time, depending on the computer specifications.

Your computer will then boot to the next installation progress screen. Your computer may restart several times.

Once the computer reset is complete, you will find a “deleted apps” file on the desktop. This is an overview of the apps deleted after resetting the computer. You can reinstall these apps. Below is an example.

I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!