How to Enable or Disable Point-in-time Restore in Windows 11

What is Point-in-time Restore?

Point-in-time Restore is a Windows 11 feature that helps you fix your PC quickly when something goes wrong. It works by creating saved copies, called restore points, of your system at specific moments. This lets you easily go back to a time when your computer was working correctly, saving you time and frustration.

Point-in-time restore works by creating "restore points." Restore points are saved snapshots of your system at a certain time. The restore point feature uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), a Windows technology that helps Windows create backups or snapshots of your computer's storage. Windows usually saves these snapshots automatically every 24 hours, but you can change this schedule. Restore points include your operating system, installed apps, settings, and your personal files, providing a complete record of your system's state.

Point-in-time Restore helps fix recent problems. The Point-in-time Restore feature saves and keeps restore points for the last 72 hours. This capability makes Point-in-time Restore perfect for fixing recent issues quickly. Point-in-time Restore is not meant for long-term saving like making a full system copy. Point-in-time Restore acts as a quick fix for immediate troubles.

Point-in-time Restore vs. System Restore

Point-in-time Restore and System Restore both help fix PC problems by going back in time, but they save different things. Point-in-time Restore saves your entire system, including your personal files, giving a more complete backup. Regular System Restore typically only saves system files and settings, not your personal documents.

• What’s Saved: Point-in-time Restore saves your whole system, including your personal files. Regular System Restore usually only saves system files and settings and does not include personal files.
• How it Starts: Point-in-time Restore is designed to work automatically on a schedule you can set. System Restore is often started by you or by specific events.
• How Long it Keeps Saves: Point-in-time Restore keeps snapshots for up to 72 hours. System Restore points can be kept for much longer, depending on your computer’s storage space and settings.
• How You Use It: Point-in-time Restore is managed through ⚙️ the Settings app. System Restore is accessed through older 🎛️ control panel tools.

Basically, Point-in-time Restore is a newer, simpler way to quickly fix recent problems. System Restore is an older tool with a different purpose and way of working.

How to Turn Point-in-time Restore On or Off

Administrator privileges on your PC are necessary to make these changes. Point-in-time restore is usually on by default for computers with a large system drive (200GB or more). If your computer has a smaller drive, point-in-time restore might be off, but you can turn point-in-time restore on.

Option 1Using ⚙️ Windows Settings

You can easily turn Point-in-time Restore on or off using the ⚙️ Windows Settings app. First, press the Windows key + I to open Settings. Then, go to System, and click on Recovery. Here, you’ll find the options to manage this helpful restore feature.

1. ⚙️ Open Settings: Press the Windows key + I keys on your keyboard. This opens ⚙️ the Settings app.
2. Go to Recovery: In ⚙️ the Settings window, click “System” on the left side. Then, on the right side, click “Recovery.”
   Tip: If you don’t see “Recovery” right away, you might need to scroll down a bit under the “System” section.
3. Find Point-in-time Restore: Under the “Recovery options” section, look for “Point-in-time restore.” Click on it. If you don’t see it, your version of Windows might not support it yet, or it might be turned off by your work or school computer settings.
   Warning: If you see a “View or edit” button instead of just clicking “Point-in-time restore,” click that button to continue.
4. Approve User Account Control (UAC): A User Account Control window might ask for permission. Click “Yes” to allow the changes.
5. Turn it On or Off: You will now see the options to manage the feature:

   • To Turn On : Choose “Turn on Point-in-time restore.” This is usually the default. If you want to change how often restore points are made, how long they are kept, or how much storage space they can use, you can adjust these settings here. We’ll explain them more below.
   • To Turn Off : Choose “Turn off Point-in-time restore.”
6. Save Your Changes: After you choose, click the “Save and Close” button. If you changed the frequency, how long saves are kept, or storage limits, those will be saved too.
7. Close Settings: You can now close ⚙️ the Settings app.

Customizing Restore Point Settings (When Turned On)

When Point-in-time Restore is active, you can adjust how often Windows creates a new restore point, with options like every 4, 12, 16, or 24 hours. Choosing a shorter interval saves your system more frequently but uses more storage. You can also set how long these saved points are kept and how much disk space they can take up.

• Restore point frequency: This decides how often Windows creates a new restore point. It’s set to every 24 hours by default. You can pick other times like 4, 12, 16, or 24 hours. Shorter times mean more frequent saves but use more storage space. Longer times save space but mean you might lose a bit more data if you need to restore.
• Restore point retention: This sets the maximum time a restore point is kept. By default, it’s 72 hours (3 days). You can choose shorter times like 6, 12, 16, 24 hours, or up to 72 hours. Older restore points are automatically removed to make space.
• Maximum usage limit: This is an important setting that controls how much total storage space all your restore points can use. It’s set as a percentage of your drive space, with a minimum of 2GB and a maximum around 50GB. For example, setting it to 2% of a 1TB drive might reserve about 20GB. If this limit is reached, older restore points will be deleted to make room for new ones. If your system is low on space, restore points might also be deleted to free up space for Windows.

Storage settings for Windows 11's point-in-time restore allow you to balance saving space with more frequent backups. The default settings work well for most users. If you are concerned about storage space, you can adjust how long saves last or set a lower maximum usage limit. Making saves more often, for example every 12 hours instead of 24, helps fix recent problems but uses more storage.

Option 2Editing the Windows Registry (For Advanced Users)

1. Open Registry Editor: Press the Windows key + R keys to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter, or click OK. Click “Yes” if asked by User Account Control.
2. Go to the Location: In the Registry Editor, you need to go to a specific spot. You can copy and paste this path into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window and press Enter: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\Recovery\PITR\Settings
   
3. Find the Setting: In the right side of the window, look for a setting called Active_UX. This setting controls whether Point-in-time Restore is on or off.
4. Change the Setting: Double-click on Active_UX to change it.
   

   • To Turn On : In the “Value data” box, type 1 and click “OK.”
   • To Turn Off : In the “Value data” box, type 0 and click “OK.”

   
   What this means: A value of 1 turns the feature on, and a value of 0 turns it off.
   
5. Close Registry Editor: You can now close the Registry Editor window.
6. 🔄 Restart Your PC: To make sure the changes work fully, it’s usually best to restart your computer.

References:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/point-in-time-restore-for-windows-11-is-now-generally-available/4508101

Summary

Point-in-time Restore in Windows 11 is a helpful tool for quickly fixing issues by saving system snapshots. You can easily enable or disable it and adjust settings like save frequency and storage limits through the ⚙️ Windows Settings app. For those comfortable with it, these settings can also be modified via the Windows Registry.