Windows 11 includes a feature called System Protection that helps safeguard your computer by creating restore points. These restore points allow you to roll back system files and settings to an earlier state if something goes wrong.
What is System Protection?
System Protection automatically creates restore points before major events such as software installations or system updates. These restore points are then used by System Restore to recover your system to a stable state when needed.
How to Enable System Protection
Follow these steps to enable System Protection:
Open Settings or System Properties
- Right‑click the Start button and select System, or
- Right‑click the Start menu and choose Settings, or press Windows Key + I.
Navigate to System Options
- In the Settings menu, click on System.
- Select the About tab.
- Click Advanced system settings or System Protection.
- Alternatively, search for Advanced system settings in the Start menu.
Configure Protection
- In the System Properties window, go to the System Protection tab.
- Select the drive you want to protect (usually the C drive) and click Configure.
- Choose Turn on system protection.
- Adjust the Max Usage slider to allocate disk space for restore points (recommended: 5–10% of total disk space).
- Click Apply and then OK to save changes.
How to Disable System Protection
To disable System Protection:
- In the System Protection tab, select the drive (usually the C drive) and click Configure.
- Choose Disable system protection.
- Optionally, delete all existing restore points for that drive.
- Click Apply and then OK to confirm.
System Protection in Windows 11 gives you control over how your system safeguards important files and settings.
By enabling or disabling it as needed, you can balance system safety with disk space management.