How to Restore Laptop to Factory Settings (Recovery Keys).

Nowadays, all the branded laptops, that come with a preinstalled Windows OS from the manufacturer, have a recovery partition on the disk, which helps you to recover your PC to the default factory settings (Factory State), after a system crash.

The recovery partition usually is hidden, because it contains all the available recovery options and needed files to easy restore your laptop to it's default factory state, if you experience problems with its operation. (e.g. you cannot boot to Windows normally, etc.)

To start your PC from the recovery partition and access the available recovery options, you have to press a specific key or a combination of keys (aka "Recovery Key"), accordingly your laptop's manufacturer.

This tutorial contains a list of laptop recovery keys, in order to access the recovery mode options and restore your laptop to factory default state.

How to restore your Laptop to Factory State (settings) using Recovery Options.

Important: Before restoring your computer to factory state, backup all your important files to another storage device (e.g. to an external USB disk).

1. Shutdown your computer.
2. Power up your computer.
3. Immediately press the corresponding laptop recovery key(s), according  to laptop's manufacturer (see the list below), to launch the recovery options:

Laptop Recovery Keys (Per Manufacturer):

• Acer: To enter in recovery options on an Acer laptop, press F10 or Alt + F10 or Ctrl + F when you see Acer's logo.
• Advent: Press F10 repeatedly after power up.
• Asus: On a Asus laptop, press F9 when you see Asus logo.
• Dell: On a Dell laptop or computer, press CTRL + F11 after powering up.
• Fujitsu: On a Fujitsu laptop, press F8 or F12 repeatedly or Alt +F11.
• HP / Compaq: Press the F11 key when you see the HP logo.
• IBM – Lenovo: Press the F11 key after power up or the "Blue Key". On the new Lenovo Idea Laptops, press the NOVO button, which is located next to the power jack. If your PC is Lenovo All-in-one machine, then press repeatedly the F2 key after turning on your computer.
• LG: Press the F11 key after power up.
• MSI: Press the F3 key when you see MSI's logo.
• Samsung: Press the F4 key after power up.
• Sony Vaio: Press the F8 or F10 repeatedly after power up, or the "Assist" key before power up.
• Toshiba: Press the F8 key after power up or the 0 (zero) key before Power Up.

4. Follow the on screen instruction to recover your laptop to factory default state.

Commonly Recovery options.
1. Factory Reset or Factory Restore (Reset your PC):  By using this option, you will be able to restore your computer to its original factory condition. This means that all the your files, programs and settings, programs will be erased during the restore process and your computer will be restored back to the factory state (with the programs & the software which had purchased from the manufacturer, aka "Out of Box State"). So, if you use this option don't forget to backup all your important files first.

2. Factory Restore With Backup: By using this option you will be able to restore your computer to its original manufacturer settings but without loosing your files.

Additional Help.
– If you cannot access the recovery partition by using the listed above recovery keys then look at manufacturer's support site to confirm that you use the correct key to access the recovery options.

– If you use (press) the correct recovery key(s), to access the recovery partition and nothing happens, then probably the recovery partition is not available or is damaged. In that case you can try one of the following methods to fix your problems:

1. To recover your computer by using recovery disks. If you haven't own or if you haven't created a set of recovery disks before, then try to request a set of recovery disks from your computer manufacturer.
2. To Troubleshoot or Restore your computer to a previous working state by booting your computer from a Windows Installation Media (DVD or USB). *
3. To perform a clean Windows installation, by using a Windows Installation media (DVD or USB). *

* Note: You can download and create a Windows installation media (according to the edition preinstalled on your computer) directly from Microsoft's Windows Download Center.

– If the recovery partition is damaged, probably the hard disk is damaged too. So, ensure that your hard disk is healthy before troubleshooting Windows problems.

• Related Article: Best Hard Drive Test & Diagnostic Tools to Check Hard Disk’s Health.

That’s all folks! Did it work for you? Please leave a comment in the comment section below or even better: like and share this blog post in the social networks to help spread the word about it.

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Konstantinos Tsoukalas

Konstantinos is the founder and administrator of Repairwin.com. Since 1995 he works and provides IT support as a computer and network expert to individuals and large companies. He is specialized in solving problems related to Windows or other Microsoft products (Windows Server, Office, Microsoft 365, etc.).

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