Deleting All Restore Points

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated February 10, 2020)

1

System restore points can consume many gigabytes of storage on your hard drive, depending on its size. If you're temporarily limited by hard-drive space, you may want to delete all the restore points to free up some room. This should only be considered a temporary measure, however, because restore points will get created again, and you'll be back to the same situation.

To delete all restore points, start System Protection. Use Windows' built-in search capabilities to look for "restore point," without the quote marks. In the search results you should see a result for "create a restore point." Select this result and Windows displays the System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box. (No, you aren't creating a restore point, but this is the fastest way to display the System Protection dialog box across all applicable versions of Windows.) (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The System Protection tab of the System Properties dialog box.

Select the drive whose restore points you want to delete and click Configure. Windows displays the System Protection dialog box for the drive you selected. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The System Protection dialog box (for a specific drive).

Click the Delete button and you are prompted to ensure you really want to delete the restore points associated with the disk drive. Click Continue to delete them or click Cancel to back out of the delete operation. Then OK your way out.

 This tip (11295) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

Using Sticky Keys

Sticky Keys is an accessibility feature designed for people who have trouble holding down two or more keys ...

Discover More

Running a Program as Administrator

Sometimes a program you're trying to run needs to run with elevated privileges. Assuming you have the authority to do ...

Discover More

Displaying Details about an Audio File

Audio files have additional attributes that other files don't have. This tip describes how you can display these ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Performing a Factory Reset

Executing a factory reset is the final option if your computer is not working correctly. This tip shows you how to reset ...

Discover More

Draw Where You Want to Go

When you need directions to just get to a certain general area, you can quickly use the Map app to get you there without ...

Discover More

Should I Leave My Computer On All the Time?

Do you turn your computer on and off all the time? Do you really know if this is good for your computer or not?

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is six less than 9?

2020-02-10 09:18:27

Len Richards

You don't mention anything about Disc Cleanup .... you can remove all but the latest restore point instead of deleting them all which is a lousy idea .... if your system creates a restore point every week and you remove them all and something goes wrong you have nothing to use ... restore points are gone

i find your tips lacking in information that should go with the tip and you mention nothing about the consequences of having no restore points

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.