A LITTLE LESS IN THE BACKGROUND
Find what you can turn off. Understand what may be unnecessarily slowing down your computer.
THE WINDOWS 11 SERVICE GUIDE
Take control of background services. See what they do, which you can disable if unused, and which features rely on them.
Use Windows settings shortcuts where available, with clear steps to turn services on or off.
The useful candidates, the tradeoffs, and the essentials to leave alone.
There’s no universal disable list. Availability varies by edition, build, and hardware. These are conditional recommendations, not a scan of your PC.
Try a different name or clear your filters.
Make everyday tasks easier, find files faster, and understand what’s running on your PC.
Microsoft Corporation · Free & open source
Arrange windows with FancyZones, rename files in bulk with PowerRename, and preview files with Peek. A collection of useful additions to Windows.
Choose which utilities to enable in PowerToys Settings.
voidtools
Find files and folders by name as you type. Useful when you remember a filename but not where you saved it.
Focused on filenames. Keep Windows Search for Outlook and other features that depend on its index.
ShareX team · Free & open source
Capture and annotate screenshots, record a screen or GIF, and build shortcuts for repeat capture tasks.
Review its after-capture tasks to choose whether captures stay local or are uploaded.
M2-Team · Open source
A file archiver based on 7-Zip, with integration into the Windows 11 right-click menu and support for many archive formats.
Choose the stable NanaZip release for everyday use.
Microsoft Sysinternals
Look deeper into running processes and their loaded files. Find which program is holding a file open when Windows won’t let you move or delete it.
Useful for investigating an unfamiliar background process before deciding what to change.
Microsoft Sysinternals
See what starts automatically, including sign-in entries, scheduled tasks, services, and Explorer extensions.
Use Hide Signed Microsoft Entries to focus on third-party items. Review each entry before disabling it.
Warp
Run PowerShell commands in a modern terminal with tabs, split panes, and command output grouped into blocks. Built-in AI can help with command-line tasks.
Supports both Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7. Choose your preferred shell in Settings.
Zed Industries
A native code editor built for responsive editing and collaboration. Work with language extensions, navigate projects, and use coding agents in the editor.
Built-in WSL support lets you edit projects inside a Linux environment from Windows.
LocalSend · Free & open source
Send photos, files, and text between your PC and nearby phones or computers over your local network. No cloud upload or account needed.
Install it on both devices and connect them to the same local network. Works across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Original selection checked . Warp, Zed, and LocalSend checked against official sources .
PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED
A drive can fail, a laptop can be lost, or Windows can stop starting normally. This guide covers Windows 11 only. It answers two questions: how to keep a copy of your files, and how to get Windows working again, with what happens to your personal files at each step.
Keep a copy of your documents, photos, and other files somewhere other than the PC.
Repair, roll back, reset, or reinstall Windows. Start with the option that changes the least.
Availability depends on your Windows 11 version and edition, installed updates, account type, storage, administrator access, and your organization’s policies. Menu names can differ slightly between builds. No backup or recovery method is guaranteed to succeed, so it helps to have more than one.
This is what each option is designed to do when it completes successfully. It isn’t a guarantee against a failing drive or an interrupted recovery, so back up files you can’t replace first.
| Option | Personal files | Apps and settings | Windows must start? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix problems using Windows Update | Kept | Kept Windows is reinstalled around them. | Yes |
| System Restore | Kept Not part of the restore point. | Rolled back Apps, drivers, and updates installed after the point can be removed. | No, it also runs from Windows RE |
| Point-in-time restore | Rolled back Local files on the Windows drive return to the selected point. Newer files and changes are lost. | Rolled back | No, it runs from Windows RE |
| Reset this PC → Keep my files | Kept | Removed Some manufacturer apps may be restored, depending on your choices. | No, it also runs from Windows RE |
| Reset this PC → Remove everything | Removed | Removed | No, it also runs from Windows RE |
| USB: reinstall from inside Windows | Kept If Setup offers Keep personal files and apps. | Kept With the same choice. | Yes |
| USB: Repair my PC | Depends On the recovery tool you choose. | Depends Opening the tools changes nothing by itself. | No |
| USB: clean install | Removed Everything on the drive you install to. | Removed A fresh start. | No |
| Restore a full system image | Rolled back Files on restored partitions return to the image. Newer files there are overwritten. | Rolled back To the image’s state, on the restored partitions. | No |
Why the difference? Reset this PC and the reinstall options put a new copy of Windows around your existing files. Point-in-time restore and a system image return a whole drive to an earlier state, so the files on it go back too.
File History saves copies of the files in your libraries, such as Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Music, and on your Desktop. It keeps earlier versions, so you can get back a file as it was before a change or deletion.
File History is a file backup. It doesn’t copy Windows, installed programs, or their settings. You can also copy important folders to a separate drive yourself; those copies don’t update, so repeat the copy after important changes.
Restoring replaces the current version. Microsoft notes that the replacement can’t be undone. To keep both versions, use Restore to and choose another location.
The Windows Backup app can sync selected folders to OneDrive and remember supported settings and app information with your Microsoft account. It helps you get set up again on a new or reinstalled PC.
Windows Backup isn’t a complete system image. It doesn’t guarantee that every app, license, setting, or file comes back automatically. On a work or school PC, settings backup is a separate feature controlled by your organization.
OneDrive can keep a cloud copy of synced files. Changes and deletions can also sync, so keep another backup of files you cannot replace.
If Windows still starts but isn’t working properly, this reinstalls the current version of Windows to repair system components. It keeps your files, apps, and settings, so it’s a good first step before anything more drastic.
System Restore rolls back system files, registry settings, and installed programs to an earlier restore point. Microsoft says it doesn’t affect your personal files, which also means it doesn’t back them up.
Windows also creates restore points automatically. Older points can be removed as Windows manages the space you allowed, so a named point might not be available later.
Point-in-time restore is separate from System Restore. When it’s on, Windows creates restore points automatically, about every 24 hours by default, and normally keeps each one for up to 72 hours. Restoring a point rolls back the whole Windows drive, including your local files.
On Home devices, and on Pro devices not managed by an organization, Microsoft says it’s on by default only when the Windows volume is 200 GB or larger (its size, not its free space). On a smaller volume you can turn it on yourself. Microsoft’s documentation currently differs about the default on organization-managed devices running 26H2, so check the setting and follow your organization’s policy.
Points are created on a schedule, not on demand. Windows removes them when they expire, when they reach their storage limit, or when free space drops to 20 GB or less. It’s short-term protection, not a replacement for a file backup.
Everything on the Windows drive returns to the selected point. Local files, apps, settings, and passwords changed after it are lost. If you can still reach important newer files, copy them to another drive or to cloud storage first.
If Point-in-time restore isn’t available, or you need to go back further than about three days, Microsoft suggests System Restore instead.
Reset this PC reinstalls Windows using the PC’s own recovery tools. You choose whether to keep your personal files. Either way, your installed apps and settings are removed. Microsoft suggests trying the less disruptive options above first.
Personal files: kept.
Apps and settings: removed. Some manufacturer apps or customizations may be restored, depending on the options you choose.
Personal files: removed.
Apps and settings: removed. Use this for a fresh start. Before giving the PC away, also turn on Clean data, which makes removed files harder to recover.
Don’t restart the PC during a reset. Microsoft notes that the screen can stay black for a long time, sometimes more than 15 minutes, and the PC may restart by itself. Restarting it yourself can make the reset fail.
Cloud download downloads fresh Windows installation files from Microsoft. It isn’t a cloud backup of your files. Local reinstall uses files already on the PC; if it fails, try Cloud download.
Make a list of the apps you’ll need to reinstall, and have your installers and licenses ready.
An installation USB is the most useful thing to have when Windows won’t start. You can make it in advance, or on another working PC when you need it. It can open the recovery tools, reinstall Windows while keeping your files, or install a fresh copy.
Making the USB erases everything on it. Use a blank USB drive of at least 8 GB, or copy anything you need from it first.
The Media Creation Tool makes media for x64 PCs. If your PC runs Windows on Arm, use Microsoft’s Windows 11 Arm64 download, which may need drivers from your PC’s manufacturer to start, or use your manufacturer’s recovery media. For the best driver compatibility on any PC, Microsoft suggests checking whether your manufacturer offers its own recovery media.
Files, apps, settings: depend on the tool you choose
Start the PC from the USB. On the first Windows Setup screen, select Next, then Repair my PC. This opens recovery tools such as Startup Repair and System Restore. The tools offered can differ from those on the PC’s own recovery menu. Opening them changes nothing by itself.
Files, apps, settings: kept
Only if Windows still starts. Open the USB in File Explorer and run setup.exe. Select Change what to keep, choose Keep personal files and apps, then select Next and Install. Use media for the same edition as your installed Windows. If Keep personal files and apps isn’t offered, stop unless you’re ready to reinstall your apps.
Files, apps, settings: removed
A clean install removes your personal files, apps, settings, and manufacturer customizations. Back up your files first.
Start the PC from the USB, select Install Windows 11, and confirm that everything will be deleted. Choose the edition that matches your license. Where Setup lists partitions, delete only those on Disk 0, then install to Disk 0 Unallocated Space.
Don’t change partitions on any other disk, such as Disk 1. On a PC with more than one drive, that can erase a data drive.
Starting from the USB: if Windows runs, go to Settings → System → Recovery → Advanced startup → Restart now, then select Use a device. Otherwise use your PC’s boot menu key while it starts; the key varies by manufacturer. A PC that was activated before normally reactivates after reinstalling the same edition.
A Recovery Drive is a USB drive made on your PC. It includes the built-in Windows files, updates installed when you made it, and any customizations from your PC’s manufacturer, and it’s meant for that PC. Microsoft recommends making one while your PC works, as a last-resort option. It contains no backup of your personal files: reinstalling with Recover from a drive removes files, apps, and settings. It can also open the recovery tools.
Creating a Recovery Drive erases existing data on the selected USB drive. Copy anything you need from it first.
Microsoft recommends recreating it once a year so it includes recent updates.
A system image is a copy of whole drives or partitions, saved to another drive, so you can restore the PC as a whole after a drive fails or is replaced.
For full-disk backups, Microsoft suggests a product from another software publisher. Winwise doesn’t recommend a specific one. Before you choose, check its Windows 11 support, how recovery works (including whether you need its own recovery media), and its pricing. Whichever tool you use, confirm that backups complete, and know how you’d start a restore before you need it.
Despite its name, this tool can still appear in Windows 11. Microsoft lists System Image Backup as deprecated: it’s no longer developed and might be removed in a future update, but it hasn’t been removed yet.
Microsoft’s support pages list System Image Recovery among the Windows RE tools, but a Microsoft technical reference describes it as available on Windows Server editions only. Check that you can find it on your PC before you rely on the image.
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is where System Restore, Point-in-time restore, Reset this PC, and the other recovery tools run when Windows can’t. If Windows fails to start several times, it opens Windows RE automatically.
If your PC uses Device Encryption or BitLocker, know where to find its recovery key. Windows may ask for it when you use recovery tools. Check now that you can open it from another device: it’s usually in your Microsoft account, or your work or school account, or your organization’s IT team can help. Keep any copy private and somewhere secure, separate from the PC. Device Encryption is available on supported Windows 11 Home PCs too.
Two other tools are in Troubleshoot → Advanced options. Startup Repair tries to fix common problems that stop Windows from starting. Uninstall Updates removes a recent update; Microsoft says your files and apps aren’t affected.
Checked against Microsoft documentation on . Menu names and availability can change with Windows 11 updates.
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