Resetting Windows Backup to default means restoring the backup settings and configurations to their original state, as they were when Windows was originally installed on a device. To perform a reset of Windows Backup, you may need to go through the Control Panel or use specific commands or utilities designed for this purpose. In this post, we will show you how to reset Windows Backup to Default on a Windows 11/10 PC.
Reset Windows Backup to Default settings
To reset the ‘Backup and Restore (Windows 7)’ feature, aka Windows Backup settings to its default, follow these steps outlined below:
Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
In the Run dialog box, type cmd and then press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER to open Command Prompt in admin/elevated mode.
In the command prompt window, copy and paste the command below and hit Enter.
reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsBackup /f
The command will delete the Windows Backup registry entry.
Next, copy and paste the command below and hit Enter.
schtasks /delete /tn "Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\AutomaticBackup" /f
The command will delete the automatic backup scheduled task.
Next, copy and paste the command below and hit Enter.
schtasks /delete /tn "Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\Windows Backup Monitor" /f
The command will delete the backup monitor scheduled task.
Once you complete the steps, the Backup or restore your files page will reset to its default settings, removing any previously configured backup settings and allowing you to set up a brand new schedule or leave the feature disabled.
Alternatively, you can create a Batch file to reset the Windows Backup Tool with a click. Open Notepad and save the following as a .BAT file:
reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsBackup /f reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsBackup schtasks /delete /tn "Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\AutomaticBackup" /f schtasks /delete /tn "Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\Windows Backup Monitor" /f
Run the file administrator to reset Windows Backup.
Restart your computer when done.
Note: Resetting Windows Backup to default will only reset the settings back to default and will not delete any previously backed-up files.
If you want to delete any created backups, you have to manually delete them from the source drive as necessary.
Windows Backup
On Windows 11/10, Backup and Restore Tool (aka Windows Backup) is a legacy tool that has been around since Windows 7, and it’s been designed to create and restore full and differential backups of files or the entire system. It was deprecated in Windows 8 and removed in Windows 8.1 but has been included in Windows 11/10.
The tool is quite useful, and many users still use it in Windows 11/10 to back up files or create full backups in case a rollback is necessary after an upgrade or hardware failure.
Read: How to Backup Windows.
How do I restore my Windows 10 Backup to 11?
If you’ve used the File History feature to back up your files, open File History in the Control Panel and select ‘Restore personal files’. Then select the desired data from the backup drive and click the Restore icon. If you’ve used the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) feature on Windows 10, connect the external drive carrying your backup to your Windows 11 PC, go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7), and click ‘Restore my files’. Follow the on-screen prompts to restore your backup. If you’ve used OneDrive, sign in to your OneDrive account on your Windows 11 PC and allow OneDrive to sync your files.
How do I Backup and factory reset Windows 11?
You may use the built-in tool File History to back up your data in Windows 11; however, you can only add documents, music, pictures, videos, Desktop files, and offline OneDrive files to the backup if you use this feature. For more options, you may use third-party backup software such as EaseUS Todo Backup. If you don’t have an external storage device, you may use OneDrive to backup your files to the cloud storage. Once you safely back up your data, you may go to Settings > System > Recovery and click the Reset PC button to factory reset Windows 11.
Read Next: How to delete System Images and Backups in Windows.
