So you want to enable System Restore on your Windows 10? You’re at the right place then. In what follows, we’ll cover the best ways to turn on System Restore on a PC. But before that, let’s quickly go over a short intro.
System Restore is a free tool from Microsoft that works by creating a backup, called Restore Point, of your critical system files and registries. When something goes south on your Windows, you can then use these Restore Points to retrieve the old settings where everything was running smoothly, instead of going with more complicated solutions—such as Factory Reset, and so on. System Restore first appeared way back in Windows ME and has been a part of Windows ever since, but is turned off by default in Windows 10.
With this basic intro out of the way, let’s now jump to the next section, where we discuss quick, actionable tips to turn on the System Restore.
How to Enable System Restore on Windows 10?
To turn on the System Restore on your PC, type ‘restore’ on the Start menu search bar and select the Create a restore point option.
In the new dialog box, under the System Protection tab, click on Configure… to turn on System Restore on your Windows 10.
A System Protection tab will be opened. From there, select the Turn on system protection radio option, and click on OK to enable System Restore for your PC.
You can also set a limit on the amount of storage that you want to your Restore Points to occupy. Because, as your Restore Points reach the maximum storage limit, the older ones will automatically get deleted to free up the space on your PC.
How to Create a Manual Restore Point?
And that’s all about turning on System Restore settings. If, however, you want to create a Restore Point right away, then that will take slightly different steps.
To do that, click on Create… under the System Protection tab in System Restore options. Next, type a name for this Restore Point; this will help you identify it later on.
Since the date and time are added automatically, you only need to give it a name from your end. I’d say type something like Restore 1 or something else, and click on Create. A new Restore Point will be created in a few seconds.
Enable Restore Point With Command Prompt
Maybe you aren’t a fan of GUI. No problem. Because you can also turn on the Restore Point from Windows PowerShell.
To get started, open an elevated Windows PowerShell by pressing Windows Key + X, and clicking on Windows PowerShell (Admin). From there, type Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive “[Drive]:” in the shell and hit Enter.
Here, you have to replace the “[Drive]:” with the actual drive that you want to enable System Restore in. For example, here, I’ll turn on the Restore Point for the D:\ drive. So, the command now becomes Enable-ComputerRestore -Drive “D:\”.
Successfully Enabling the System Restore on Windows
System Restore is disabled by default on Windows 10 computers, possibly to save the space which it would otherwise occupy. But, given its utility in restoring your PC in case of an accidental data loss, we’d advise that you keep your PC’s System Restore turned on. Hopefully, this article helped you enable the System Restore on your Windows 10.
