How to factory reset a HP laptop

As a last resort to fixing system issues on your HP laptop, you might consider bringing it back to its factory settings. Well, if that’s the case, then you would be glad you found this article. We will teach you how to factory reset an HP laptop running Windows 10. One of the methods will guide you through the steps needed when you cannot boot into your system normally. The other option will teach you how to reset your laptop when you can’t successfully log into it.

Method 1: Using Windows Settings to Factory Reset your HP Laptop

You can go to Windows Settings to factory reset your laptop. Of course, you will only be able to use this method when you can normally boot into your system. That said, here are the steps you must follow:

1. On your keyboard, press Windows Key+S.
2. Type “reset this PC” (no quotes), then press Enter.
3. Go to the right pane, then select Get Started.
4. You can choose to keep your files or remove everything.
5. Click Keep My Files when you want to retain your personal files, apps, and customizations
6. Click Next, then select Reset. Your operating system will be re-installed, and your computer will restart.
7. You can select Remove Everything when you prefer getting rid of all your personal files, apps, and customization settings.
8. You can opt to remove all the files from all your drives or just the drive where Windows is installed.
9. You have the option to just remove your files or to delete them while cleaning the drive.
10. Once you click Reset, the process will start. It may take a while for it to complete.

Method 2: Using Windows Recovery Environment to Factory Reset your HP Laptop

If you can’t normally boot into your HP laptop, you can use Windows Recovery Environment to factory reset your device. You can do that by following the instructions below:

1. Turn off your HP laptop.
2. Disconnect all external devices (printers, USB drives, etc.) from your computer.
3. Remove all recently added internal hardware.
4. Press the Power button to switch your HP laptop on.
5. Once your unit starts booting, immediately press the F11 key. Repeatedly press it until you see the Choose an Option screen.
6. Select Troubleshoot.
7. Choose Reset this PC.
8. You can either opt to keep your files or to remove everything.
9. Select Keep My Files when you want to retain your data. Once you click Reset, your operating system will be reinstalled. The process may take a while.
10. Choose Remove Everything when you want to remove all your personal files.
11. You can opt to remove everything solely on the drive where your operating system is installed. On the other hand, you can click All Drives when you do not want to retain any data.
12. You can also fully clean the drive you selected or just remove your files.
13. Click Reset.

Important Step after Factory Resetting your HP Laptop

Now that you have restored your HP laptop to its factory settings, the next thing you must do is ensure that you have the latest drivers for your operating system. You can manually update your drivers or automate the process, using a trusted tool like Auslogics Driver Updater. If you are not computer savvy, we recommend choosing the latter. After all, manually updating your drivers can be complicated, risky, and time-consuming. To give you an idea, let us show you the process.

1. Press Windows Key+X on your keyboard. This should launch Device Manager.
2. Now, you must go through all the drivers under every category. Make sure you expand the contents of each category to ensure that you won’t miss any drivers.
3. Right-click the driver, then select Properties from the list.
4. Go to the Driver tab, then click Update Driver.
5. Choose the ‘Search automatically for updated driver software’ option.

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"I bought one used HP laptop with Windows 10. I want to restore it to factory settings, but it is password protected. I have no clue what the password is. How can I restore HP laptop to factory settings without password?"

There are several options to reset HP laptop to factory defaults, such as using a recovery disc or using the HP Recovery Manager. To perform the restore, you might be asked for a Windows administrator password. Now the problem is, if you don't know the password or if you have forgotten the password, how can you go on the HP laptop factory reset? Here in this post, I will show you how to factory reset HP laptop Windows 10 without a password. You have two options.

Tips:

• Before you start to restore HP laptop to factory settings, make sure the keyboard, mouse, and power supply are connected to the laptop.
• Newer HP laptops usually do not come with recovery discs so I will perform the factory reset with the HP Recovery Manager.
• The HP Recovery Manager screens can vary from model to model, but they are broadly similar.

Option 1: Factory reset HP laptop after Windows 10 password is removed

You can first remove the admin password so that you can sign in to Windows 10 without password and then perform HP laptop factory reset. Steps are as follows.

Step 1: Remove Windows 10 password

1) On any working Windows-based computer, install and run Windows Password Refixer.

2) Burn the Windows Password Refixer to one USB flash drive to create a password reset disk.

3) Connect the USB drive to the password protected HP laptop and set the laptop to boot from the USB drive.

4) Remove the admin account password by the Reset Password button.

5) Click Reboot and disconnect the USB drive to restart the laptop for the changes to take effect.

6) After laptop starts, you can sign in to Windows 10 without a password.

Step 2: Restore HP laptop to factory settings without password

Now, the password is not required to perform HP laptop factory reset.

1) Start typing recovery manager in Windows 10 Search box, and then click HP Recovery Manager from the search results.

If you are prompted with a User Account Control dialog, click Yes to confirm that.

2) After the HP Recovery Manager opens, click Windows Recovery Environment from the Help section on the left pane.

3) Click OK, so the system will reboot into the Windows Recovery Environment.

4) After the Choose an option screen appears, click Troubleshoot.

5) Click the Recovery Manager.

6) Select Recover without backing up your files, and click Next.

7) Click Next to continue.

8) Wait while the Recovery Manager is preparing for system recovery.

9) From here, simply follow any on-screen instructions to finish the HP laptop factory reset. The laptop may restart several times during the process.

Option 2: Reset HP laptop to factory settings without logging in

Password won't be required if you perform HP laptop factory reset without logging in to Windows 10. Steps are as follows.

Step 1: Disconnect all connected devices and cables.

Step 2: Turn on or restart the HP laptop and repeatedly press the F11 key until the Choose an option screen is displayed.

Step 3: On the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.

Step 4: Click Recovery Manager.

Step 5: Click System Recovery from the Help section on the left pane.

Step 6: When Recovery Manager prompts you to back up your files, select a backup option, or select Recover without backing up your files option if you don't want to back up your personal files, and then click Next.

Step 7: From here, simply follow the on-screen instructions to finish the HP laptop factory reset. This process can take 30 to 50 minutes, and the laptop can restart several times during the process.

Conclusion: The above are the two ways you can reset a password protected HP laptop to factory settings without the password. Choose any way that is easy for you to achieve.

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