Key Takeaways:
- Restore points are created by the system to allow you to roll back to a known good state of your operating system.
- Restore points can take up a significant amount of storage space if they accumulate over time.
- Deleting old restore points can free up space on your computer.
- You can either delete individual restore points or all restore points at once.
Once the System Restore functionality is enabled, restore points can be created by you, the system, or applications whenever there is a major change in system settings. For example, installing a new driver might automatically create a new system restore point.
These restore points are helpful in rolling back to a known good state when something goes wrong or in undoing the changes. However, the restore points can take up a significant amount of space if they accumulate over time. This article will show you how to delete old restore points in Windows to free up space and keep your system running smoothly. Keep reading to learn more!
Table of contents:
- Is it safe to delete restore points?
- How to delete an individual restore point
- How to delete all restore points at once
- How to delete restore points from the command line
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.
Is it safe to delete restore points?
If you’re running low on storage space on your Windows computer, you may be considering deleting some of your old restore points to free up some space.
But is it safe to delete restore points?
The short answer is yes; it is generally safe to delete old restore points as long as you are confident that you no longer need to roll back to a known good state of your operating system.
Restore points are created automatically or manually to allow you to restore the system when things go wrong. But, if you have already resolved any issues you needed to roll back for, or if you have created new restore points since then, you can safely delete the old ones.
Remember that once you delete a restore point, it cannot be recovered, so make sure you no longer need it before proceeding.
How to delete an individual restore point
The built-in System Restore point helps you restore the system when needed but doesn’t allow you to delete a restore point. As such, we will use a free software called System Restore Explorer. It allows you to see all the available restore points, open and see the contents of any restore point and delete a restore point.
Here’s how to delete a restore point in Windows:
- Get System Restore Explorer.
- Install the software.
- Open the installed software from the Start menu.
- Select a restore point you want to delete.
- Click the “Delete” button.
- Press “Yes” when prompted.
- With that, the system restore point is deleted.
- Do the same if you want to delete any other restore point.
- Close the System Restore Explorer application.
Download System Restore Explorer: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/system_restore_explorer.html
Detailed steps:
First, follow the above link, download System Restore Explorer software, and install it. Installing the System Restore Explorer is nothing hard. Just follow the installation wizard, and you’ll be good.
Note: The software requires .Net Framework 3.5. On most Windows systems, it is already installed and available. However, if you see an error message telling you that you don’t have the appropriate .net framework installed, you can download .Net Framework offline installer and install it.
After installing System Restore Explorer, open it from the Start menu. You can also double-click on the desktop icon.
You will see an immediate list of all restore points on the main screen. The software helpfully marks manual and automatic restore points and other helpful information like the date & time and description.
Select a restore point you want to delete and press the “Delete” button at the bottom.
The program shows a warning message as soon as you click the “Delete” button. Press the “Yes” button to continue.
That is it. The restore point is instantly deleted. If you want to delete any other restore point, follow the same steps.
How to delete all restore points at once
If you want to delete all system restore points at once, you can use the built-in System Restore options. You don’t have to install any third-party software.
Here’s how to delete all restore points in Windows:
- Press the “Start” key.
- Search and open “View advanced system settings.”
- Go to the “System Protection” tab.
- Select the drive with “System Restore” enabled.
- Press the “Configure” button.
- Click the “Delete” button
- Press “Continue” when prompted.
- With that, all the restore points are deleted.
- Close the “System Properties” window.
Detailed steps:
First, open the start menu, search for “View advanced system settings,” and click the top result to open it. This action will open the System Properties window. Now, go to the “System Protection” tab.
After that, select the drive with System Restore enabled and click the “Configure” button. If you are wondering, Windows manages restore points on per drive basis.
Clicking the Configure button opens the System Restore settings window. Here, click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the window.
You will see a warning message when you click the button. Click the “Continue” button.
With that, you’ve deleted all system restore points in Windows. Remember that you’ve only deleted restore points of a specific drive. If the System Restore is enabled for other drives, follow the same steps and delete old restore points of those drives too.
How to delete restore points from the command line
We can use the “vssadmin” command to delete individual or all restore points in Windows. It is pretty simple.
Here’s how to delete restore points from the command line:
- Right-click the Start icon.
- Select the “Terminal (Admin)” option.
- Run the below command to list all restore points.
vssadmin list shadows - Copy the “shadow copy set ID” of the restore point you want to delete.
- Run the below command while replacing “ShadowID” with the actual ID you copied.
vssadmin delete shadows /Shadow={ShadowID} - Type “Y” and press Enter when prompted.
- With that, the restore point is deleted.
- Close the Terminal window.
Detailed steps:
First, open the “Terminal” application as an admin. You can right-click the Start menu and select “Terminal (Admin).” If you want, you can also open Windows PowerShell as admin.
After opening the terminal window, run the below command. It will list all the available restore points. Find the restore point you want to delete and copy the “shadow copy set ID” between braces ({}).
vssadmin list shadows
Next, run the below command while replacing “ShadowID” with the one you copied earlier.
vssadmin delete shadows /Shadow={ShadowID}
When prompted, type “Y” and press Enter. As soon as you do that, Windows will delete the selected restore point.
If you want to delete all restore points via the command line, run the below command.
vssadmin delete shadows /all
When prompted, type “Y” and press Enter.
With that, Windows deleted all the restore points instantly. You can now close the terminal window.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Here are a few FAQs to help you better understand deleting restore points in Windows.
Restore points are snapshots of your computer’s system files and settings. They are created automatically by Windows, or you can create them manually before making important system changes. Restore points can be used to revert your system to a previous state if something goes wrong or if you want to undo changes you made to your system.
Yes, it is safe to delete restore points. However, keeping a few restore points is generally a good idea in case you need to roll back your system.
Yes, you can delete all restore points at once via the System Restore tool or command line. Both methods are shown above. However, deleting all restore points at once is generally not recommended, as this can limit your ability to roll back to the previous state if something goes wrong. If you want to free up more disk space, consider deleting older restore points while keeping a few recent ones.
Yes, you can prevent restore points from being created in the future by turning off the System Restore feature. To do this, open the “View advanced system settings” window, go to the “System Protection” tab, select the drive, click “Configure,” select “Turn off system restore,” and press “Ok.” Keep in mind that turning off the System Restore feature can limit your ability to revert your system to a previous state if something goes wrong.
That is it. It is that simple to delete old restore points in Windows.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
