How to Recover Files after Windows 11 Reset

"Can I restore files after Windows 11 reset? I had to do Windows 11 reset as it was expected to solve my network adapter. However, there were some pictures and videos I forgot to copy to my external hard drive and all of them just gone after Windows 11 factory reset. Any way available to fix it?"

Windows 11 reset seems to be a great option for those users who are stuck in problems that can't be solved besides reinstalling Windows 11. In such a scenario, if Windows 11 reset can solve the problem, then it's far easier and more efficient than reinstalling it. However, reset Windows 11 may cause you huge data loss if you haven't prepared a backup of your Windows 11. Though there are two options for you to choose while reset your Windows 11 PC:

• 1. Keep my files while reset this PC, remove apps and settings, but keeps your personal files.
• 2. Remove everything while reset this PC, remove all of your personal files, apps, and settings.

Obviously, the second option can result in the deletion of all the data whether it was documented, videos, images, or downloaded files from the internet whether all the files and data stored on the C drive it will be wiped out. However, the first option can also result in your personal files being saved in app folders deleted, like the videos you have downloaded via a web browser or software. What a disappointment!

Actually, you can recover lost files after Windows 11 reset no matter you lost files after choosing the reset option 1 or 2. All the data that's formatted from the drive can be easily recovered and located with the right approach to a Windows backup file if you have prepared one already and professional and powerful data recovery tools. It's recommended to retrieve lost files after Windows 11 reset as soon as you can because these files will be overwritten after, and there are fewer chances that it would be able to find. Check out the following 2 ways for how to get back lost files after factory reset.

Quick Navigation

Part 1. How to Restore Lost Files after Factory Reset with Backup File

Part 2. How to Recover Files after Windows 11 Reset without Backup (Using Data Recovery Software)

Part 1. How to Restore Lost Files after Factory Reset with Backup File

Backup is always necessary if you never want to be a victim of data deletion or data theft. It's not a hard thing to retrieve lost files after factory reset, if you have created a backup of your current Windows on an external, USB flash drive or internal hard drive, you can retrieve your data quickly in such cases but if you haven't created backup or you have an old backup that doesn't contain files from few last weeks, then you to bear the loss of those files or try the data recovery way in part 2. Here are the steps on how to find files with Windows 11 factory reset:

1. Search for "backup" in the start menu and open the tool that appears as "Backup Settings" and open it.
2. Click on Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and here you have to create a system image.
3. After that, you will see a window where you have to choose the device or folder where you have created the backup and click on the "Next" button.

Note: This method is only helpful if you have the latest backup of your Windows 11, if you hadn't then we have another solution for you and you can still recover lost files after factory reset.

Part 2. How to Recover Files after Windows 11 Reset without Backup

The solution above described can only get back your files if you have a backup already stored on an external drive, USB flash drive, or internal drive. In such a situation, you can take help from third-party tools to restore lost files after Windows 11 reset and these tools don't require any backup. Well, you may be curious to know how they work? They scan your drive or desired directory and find out the files that were deleted recently in the factory reset.

As you know deleted files are on the computer's drive but they are not visible to the user until they are recovered by a data recovery tool. Deep Data Recovery is well known for its reliability and performance as well. We will use it to perform the Windows 11 file recovery scan and it's the best choice as we have tested this tool before in many data lost scenarios and it always provided the highest rate for recover permanently deleted files in Windows 11. Let's have a look at its main features:

Step by Step Guide on How to Retrieve Files After Windows 11 Reset

1. Download the best data recovery software for Windows 11 on your PC
2. Install it according to the instructions provided in the installation
3. Click "go to setting" to filter file types
4. Select drive to extract data

In this section, you need to choose the location that you want to scan to get the files back and after that click on the "Scan" button to start the scanning process. How long the scanning process fully depends on how many files it found on the Windows PC.


5. Recover lost files after factory reset in Windows 11

Once Qiling is done with the scanning process, it will show a list of all the files that have been recovered while scanning the drive and you can preview them as well before restoring them as it's a feature of the Deep Data Recovery tool. You can choose the files that you want to find and save them on an internal or external drive wherever you want them.

Qiling is really a great option to recover files after Windows 11 reset if you do not have any Windows backup file. And you should do the data recovery as soon as possible. The sooner the better result you will get.

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