How To Create A System Restore Point On Windows 10

A System Restore point is backup of the system’s settings which includes installed apps, the Windows Registry, and system files. It’s incredibly useful for when something breaks on your system e.g., after you update to a new version of Windows 10. You can use a system restore point to return to a previously stable state. Here’s how you can create a system restore point on Windows 10.

SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down and watch the video tutorial at the end of this article.

System Restore Point

You will need administrative rights to create a system restore point on Windows 10.

Open File Explorer and in the navigation bar on the left, right-click This PC and select Properties from the context menu. In the Properties window that opens, look at the options on the left, and click Advanced System Settings.

Enable System Protection

On the System Settings window, go to the System Protection tab. The System Protection tab will list all the drives that are currently configured on your system. You can create a system restore point for each drive but in most cases, creating one for the Windows drive is enough.

Select the Windows drive i.e., the drive that Windows 10 is installed on, and click the Configure button.

Select the Turn on system protection option, and then allocate space that can be taken up by these restore points. Typically, 500 MB is enough but to be on the safe side, you can allocate up to 1 GB of space if you have it. Set the space by dragging the Max Usage slider. Click Apply, and close the window.

Create Restore Point

Next, return to the System Properties window, and click the Create button at the bottom to create a system restore point for the selected disk. Give it a name, and the restore point will be created. The restore point takes only a few minutes to create. The date is added to restore point automatically so don’t include it in the name.

Restore To System Restore Point

To restore your system to a restore point, you need to open this same System Settings window, select the drive you want to restore, and click the System Restore button. This will open a window where, after you click Next, you will see a list of the restore points that have been created. Each restore point is time stamped and all you need to do is select which one you want to restore to. Follow the on-screen instructions to restore your system.

Delete Restore Point

If you want to delete all restore points that you’ve created, click the Configure button on the System properties window, and click the Delete button at the bottom to delete all restore points.

To delete individual restore points, open Command Prompt with administrative rights.

Type the following command to list all restore points.

vssadmin list shadows

The restore points are not listed with the name you gave them. Instead, they have a shadow copy ID, and the date they were created on. That’s how you can tell which restore point is which. Note down the ID of the restore point you want to delete.

Run the following command to delete the shadow copy i.e., restore point.

vssadmin delete shadows /shadow=(shadow copy ID)

Example

vssadmin delete shadows /Shadow={87d856bc-bbf4-4f05-a2f0-9e3accf3477f}

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Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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