When you have multiple restore points, here’s a way to list all system restore points and open each restore point to see its files.
If the System Restore feature is enabled, Windows will automatically create a new system restore point whenever there is are significate change. For example, if you are trying to install a driver, Windows will create a system restore point before installing the driver. As you can guess, these restore points will help you restore the system to a known good state if things go wrong with the changes you just made.
As the restore points grow, they not only take up a lot of space but can also be confusing when you are want to restore a specific restore point. The good thing is, you can make Windows list all system restore points. Not only list but you can also mount restore points and browse through them in File Explorer to see what’s different compared to other restore points.
So, without further ado, follow the steps below to see a list of all available system restore points and mount them to browse files.
See List of System Restore Points
I will show two methods. If you just want to see the list of all system restore points then follow the first method. If you see and mount the system restore points to browse its files and folders, follow the second method.
Method #1
If you just want to see all the system restore points and their dates and descriptions, you don’t have to use any third-party tool. All we have to do is launch the system restore wizard and it will show is the data we need.
1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Win + R keyboard shortcut. In the blank field, type “rstrui” and press Enter.
2. In the wizard, click on the “Next” button. In the next window, select the “Choose a different restore point” and click the “Next” button.
That’s it. In this screen, you can all the available restore points along with their date, time, description, and the system restore type. If you want to see which programs are affected in a particular restore point, select the target restore point and click on the “Scan for affected programs” button.
Once you are done, click on the “Cancel” button to safely close the System Restore window.
Method #2 (Mount Restore Points)
If you want to mount the restore point and see its files and folder, you can also do that. This is particularly helpful if you want to access a certain file or folder but don’t want to commit to the restoration.
1. To mount and browse a Restore Point files, Windows has no built-in options. So, we are going to use a third-party application called System Restore Explorer. Download the tool from here and install it.
2. Once you are done with the installation, open it from the Start menu or by clicking on the desktop icon. As soon as you open the application, it will show all the available restore points.
3. To mount and restore point, select it from the list and click on the “Mount” button.
4. As soon as you click the button, that particular restore point will be mounted as the VolumeShadowCopy folder within the root of the C drive and automatically opens it in the File Explorer. From there, you can browse through the files and folders of that shadow copy.
Note: Do not modify, add, or delete any files or folders in the ShadowCopy. It might damage the restore point.
5. Once you are done explorer, close the File Explorer and click on the “Unmount” button in the System Restore Explorer window.
That is it. It is that simple to see a list of available system restore points and mount them as needed.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. If you like this article, do check out how to delete old restore points in Windows.
