Every time your computer is acting up, System Restore is there to save you. Let’s say something went wrong with a big system update, a newly installed software is causing you problems, or maybe you’re dealing with a malware infestation.

When you run into one of these problems, you can use System Restore to revert your computer to its previous state. But for this to happen, you need to make sure System Restore is running, and it’s properly configured.

If this sounds intimidating, don’t worry. We’ll walk you through the process of enabling and customizing System Restore.

How to Verify and Configure Windows System Restore

Checking whether System Restore is active sounds like a simple thing - and for the most part it is - but there are a lot of different ways to check whether it's doing what you think it's doing. Maybe it's installed and running, but taking system restore points at intervals that are much further apart than you realized?

First, sign in using your administrative account, so you can access and configure Windows System Restore.

To check System Restore settings, launch Control Panel and set the View by option to Large icons. Then, select Recovery and click Open System Restore.

Control Panel in Windows 11

Select Choose a different restore point. It will look like you are entering into the utility to take a system restore point but just click Next so that you can get into the utility to see a history of all past system restore points.

System restore settings

On the next screen, you'll see a list of date/time combinations of recent restore points. What you want to see is a frequent entry with a Description of Automatic Restore Point. Scroll down and see how often these Automatic Restore Points are taken.

Does it seem to be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or none at all? Make sure that the frequency of restore points is what you expect so that you're not left with a nasty surprise later on when you really need to restore your computer.

Check restore points

Click on Cancel. You don't need to go through with a restore point now (unless you want to, of course).

How to Configure Windows Restore

Is the frequency not at all what you expect? Are you seeing no restore points at all? On older Windows versions, the System Restore feature was enabled by default. However, on Windows 11, you have to turn it on manually.

So, if you’ve recently installed Windows 11, let’s take a quick look at how you can enable System Restore.

In the Start menu search bar, search for Create a restore point and select the Best match. This will bring up the System Properties window, where you should check the Protection Settings section to check if System Restore is enabled.

If it’s turned off, select one of the drives and click Configure. Then, select the Turn on system protection option and click Apply > OK.

Enable system restore in Windows 11

If you want to take frequent restore points, then make sure that you adjust the maximum disk space used for system protection to a higher maximum usage. The last thing you want is for the system restore to fail because you didn't allocate enough memory for those restore points.

If you’re worried that restore points will take too much of your computer space resources, you can decide which restore points you no longer need and manually delete them.

Also, as your system keeps creating restore points, Windows will delete older points to make room for new ones. If you’re constantly running low on space, it might be difficult to figure out how often does Windows create a new restore point, as they keep getting deleted. Fortunately, you can easily find out using Task Scheduler.

How to Check Restore Point Frequency

Maybe you know that you can use Windows Task Scheduler to automate boring tasks or run programs automatically, but you can also use it to check on important system functions such as System Restore.

In the Start menu search bar, search for Task Scheduler and click Run as administrator. Click Task Scheduler Library and search for one named SR. When you open this task, you should see that the location points to Windows\SystemRestore\.

System Restore task

Click on the Triggers tag to see what triggers the task. This should include a timed frequency. A daily restore point should be more than enough, and even weekly would be fine in most cases. Of course, you can set Windows to create a restore point as often as you want.

Another way to see the frequency of past restores is by clicking on the History tab for this task. Here, you'll see all the past executions. This is actually a good place to go to troubleshoot any failed restores or to see that your regularly scheduled restore points are being taken as you think they are.

Are Automatic Restore Points Enough?

In general, if you allocate enough memory for the restore points, and you set Windows to create them weekly, you should be able to fix your computer in case something goes wrong. However, if you plan on installing new software or performing a big system update, you should manually create a restore point.

Test System Restore

By now, System Restore should be functioning and completely configured. However, you should test it to check if everything works as expected. Make a noticeable change to your system, such as setting a dark theme, and create a restore point. Don’t forget to give it a suggestive name.

Then, go back to your default theme and load the restore point. If you’re now looking at a darker screen, System Restore works, and you’ll be able to use it when you run into a problem.

Don’t Overlook System Restore

Being able to load one of the restore points is essential when you’re dealing with a glitch that seems to have no fix. Now, you may never deal with such a situation but if it happens, System Restore has your back.

If you want to double down on your chances to save your system, you could use a rescue & recovery disk.