Restarting or resetting the operating system

If your device becomes unresponsive, and the troubleshooting guide does not resolve the problem, you need to restart or reset your device.

For detailed instructions on the recovery options in Windows 11, refer to the Microsoft support pages on Windows 11 recovery options at www.support.microsoft.com.

Restarting your (unresponsive) device

If your device is no longer responding to touchscreen or keypad input, you may need to force it to restart by removing power from the system.

Restarting the system by holding down the Power key removes power to the CPU. Any unsaved files and settings will be lost.

To force your device to restart:

  1. Press and hold the Power key until the device shuts down (~15 seconds).

  2. Restart your device by pressing the Power key.

Resetting your device

If restarting your device does not resolve the issue that you are seeing, resetting it might help. Resetting lets you choose to keep your files or remove them, and then reinstalls the operating system.

To reset your device:

  1. Tap / Settings / Update & security / Recovery.

  2. Select Get started then follow the onscreen instructions to reset your device.

  3. At the reset menu, select one of the following:

    • Keep my files.

      • Reinstalls the Windows operating system and keeps your personal files.

      • Removes apps and drivers you installed.

      • Removes changes you made to settings.

      • Removes any apps your dealer or distributor installed.

    • Remove everything.

      • Reinstalls the Windows operating system and removes all your personal files.

      • Removes apps and drivers you installed.

      • Removes changes you made to settings.

      • If you're planning to donate, recycle, or sell your device, use this option and choose to fully clean the drive. This might take an hour or two, but it makes it harder for other people to recover files you have removed.

Resetting your device when the operating system is unresponsive

If you want to restore your device but cannot operate the touchscreen or the operating system is not responding to normal input, you may need to reset the device from the Boot Menu.

To reset from the Boot Menu:

  1. Connect an external USB keypad to the device.

  2. Press the Windows logo key to get to the sign-in screen, then hold the Shift key down and select Power / Restart in the lower-right corner of the screen.

  3. When the device restarts, tap Troubleshoot / Reset this PC.

If you cannot get to the sign-in screen, use a recovery drive or installation media to reset your device.