How to Repair Windows 11 Without Losing Data

Windows 11 starts crashing apps, failing updates or hanging at boot, while the user's files still sit on the drive. Wiping the machine fixes it, but it also costs the afternoon and every app the user installed. Here's how to repair Windows 11 in the order that touches the least first, so you can stop at the first fix that works.

The Repair Ladder: Least Invasive Fix First

Every repair option in Windows 11 keeps a different amount of the machine. SFC and DISM touch only system files. A repair install replaces Windows but keeps apps, files and settings. Reset this PC keeps files and throws away the apps. A clean install keeps nothing.

So work up the ladder, not down it. Two checks come before any rung. Back up the user's profile, because every step past SFC restarts the machine into territory where things can go wrong. And find the BitLocker recovery key, because the recovery environment asks for it the moment you boot into it. Our BitLocker guide covers where the key lives on work and personal devices.

One more check saves the most time. If the drive or the RAM is failing, every software repair will look like it worked and then fail again next week. Run chkdsk C: /scan and a memory test before you climb, as in our guide to testing RAM first.

Step 1: Run DISM, Then SFC

Start here whenever Windows still boots. Microsoft's own guidance is to run DISM first, because DISM repairs the component store that SFC copies its clean files from. Run SFC first against a damaged store and it may have nothing clean to copy from.

Open Terminal as administrator and run both commands in this order:

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DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
sfc /scannow

SFC ends with one of four messages. "Did not find any integrity violations" means system files are fine, so the problem is somewhere else. "Found corrupt files and successfully repaired them" means reboot and retest. "Found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them" means read the log. "Could not perform the requested operation" means run the scan again from Safe Mode.

The log lives at %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. It's huge, so pull out only the SFC lines:

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findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log > "%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

If DISM itself fails, usually with a source error, it needs a clean copy of Windows to repair from. Our DISM RestoreHealth guide walks through pointing it at a mounted ISO.

Step 2: Startup Repair When Windows Won't Boot

If Windows won't reach the sign-in screen, SFC isn't an option yet. Startup Repair, which Microsoft's documentation calls Automatic Repair, lives in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). WinRE opens on its own after two failed starts in a row, or after two unexpected shutdowns within two minutes of boot.

You can also open it on purpose. Hold Shift and select Restart from the sign-in screen, or go to Settings, System, Recovery and select Restart now next to Advanced startup. Then choose Troubleshoot, Advanced options, Startup Repair.

Startup Repair fixes boot problems, not a damaged Windows install. Microsoft notes that some failures make WinRE unreachable from the disk at all: a corrupted boot manager, a missing Boot Configuration Data store, or damaged partition metadata. In those cases you boot from Windows installation media instead and reach the same tools from there. When Startup Repair gives up, its log at %windir%\System32\LogFiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt usually names the file or driver it tripped on.

Once the machine boots again, even into Safe Mode, go back to Step 1. We cover the boot menus in more depth in our upcoming guides to Safe Mode on Windows 11 and to WinRE.

Step 3: System Restore, and the Restore That Takes Files With It

System Restore rolls system files and settings back to a restore point. It leaves personal files alone, but apps and drivers installed after that point go. It only helps if restore points were turned on before the problem started.

Windows 11 version 24H2 added a second option called point-in-time restore. Read the label carefully. Microsoft says it "rolls back your entire PC, including apps, settings, and personal files" to a restore point up to three days old. That fixes a bad driver or update fast, but anything the user saved since that point is gone. If the goal is to keep data, copy the recent files off first or use classic System Restore.

Step 4: Fix Problems Using Windows Update

This is the easiest full repair Windows 11 has. It reinstalls the same version of Windows that's already on the device and keeps apps, files and settings. Go to Settings, System, Recovery and select Reinstall now next to Fix problems using Windows Update.

It needs Windows 11 version 22H2 with the February 2024 optional update or later, plus power and internet for the whole run. On business fleets, there's a catch. Microsoft says the option isn't available on devices enrolled in Autopatch, or where update policies such as UpdateServiceUrl or DeferFeatureUpdatePeriodInDays are set. So a device that gets updates from WSUS or a deferral policy may not show the button at all. That's when you move to Step 5.

This r/sysadmin thread asks about the same move, an in-place upgrade from the ISO to get Windows Update working again:

Step 5: The In-Place Repair Install From an ISO

The in-place repair install is the workhorse. It runs Windows Setup over the top of the current install and keeps personal files, apps and settings. It can fix corruption that SFC and DISM can't reach, including broken Windows Update components.

The steps are short:

1. Download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft and mount it in File Explorer.
2. Run setup.exe from the root of the mounted drive and accept the admin prompt.
3. Select Change what to keep, then Keep personal files and apps.
4. Select Install and leave the machine alone through several restarts.

Setup has to start from inside a running Windows. It can't do this from WinPE or a boot USB, so a PC that won't boot needs Step 2 first. The edition must match the device's license. From Windows 11 version 22H2, the ISO also needs the same system default UI language as the device, or the keep-apps upgrade isn't allowed. An en-GB ISO won't repair an en-US machine.

Microsoft's recovery guidance says these processes typically take 30 minutes to two hours. Plan for the long end on older hardware.

This walkthrough from Microsoft shows the same screens:

When Repair Isn't Enough: Reset or Reinstall

Past the repair install, every option costs something. Reset this PC with Keep my files reinstalls Windows and keeps the user's files, but it removes every app and resets settings. Go back to the previous version only exists for 10 days after a feature update. A clean install keeps nothing at all.

People often ask what survives when they untick the apps option during an in-place upgrade. The short answer: files stay, apps go.

If you've reached this point, our guide on how to factory reset Windows 11 covers which reset option fits a broken PC and which fits a handover.

Repairing Windows 11 Across a Fleet

On one PC, you click through. On forty, you script it. DISM and SFC run fine unattended, and the SFC lines from CBS.log tell you which machines still have unrepaired files. For the repair install, Windows Setup takes setup.exe /auto upgrade /quiet /eula accept, which keeps apps and data and exits with a logged code if the upgrade isn't possible. On Windows 11, Setup won't start quietly without /eula accept.

OpenFrame can run the DISM and SFC pass as a script across a client's devices and collect the output, so the machines that need a repair install stand out before a user calls in.

Repair Windows 11: The Short Version

Check the hardware and grab the BitLocker key. Run DISM, then SFC. If Windows won't boot, use Startup Repair from WinRE. Use System Restore if restore points exist, and treat point-in-time restore as a data risk. For a full repair that keeps everything, use Fix problems using Windows Update, or the in-place repair install from an ISO on managed devices. Only then reach for a reset.

If a blue screen started all of this, read our guide to finding the driver behind a BSOD next.