How to wipe hard drive and reinstall Windows 10

The ability to wipe out the hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 on your computer is usually the recommended method to improve system performance when the system is not working correctly, running slow, or you’re dealing with battery problems. Also, the process of removing everything and starting fresh with a new installation can help you get rid of tough viruses, or prepare the device when you’re planning to find a new owner without giving away your information.

Whatever the reason it might be, on Windows 10, there are at least two ways to erase and start from scratch with a fresh copy of the operating system. You can use the “Reset this PC” feature, which allows you to reset the system to the factory default settings removing everything from all the drives without the need of a USB installation and additional steps. Or you can use a USB bootable media to start the computer to manually wipe out the hard drive and perform a clean installation of the operating system.

In this guide, you’ll learn two methods to securely erase the hard drive and reinstall Windows 10.

• Erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 with Reset this PC
• Erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 with USB media

Erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 with Reset this PC

On Windows 10, you can use the Reset this PC feature to wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall a fresh copy of the operating system without the need of a USB bootable media.

To wipe hard drive clean and reinstall Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Update & Security.

3. Click on Recovery.

4. Under the “Reset this PC” section, click the Get started button.

   

5. Click the Remove everything option to wipe out the hard drive.

   

6. Click the Cloud Download option to download a fresh copy of Windows 10, instead of using the locally availble image (recommended). If you prefer to use the local image, select the Local reinstall option.

   

7. (Optional) Click the Change settings option.

   

8. Turn on the Download Windows toggle switch.

9. Turn on the Clean data toggle switch.

10. Turn on the Delete files from all drives toggle switch (if applicable).

    

11. Click the Confirm button.

12. Click the Next button.

    

13. Click the Next button again.

14. Click the Reset button.

Once you complete the steps, the feature will download a fresh copy of the installation files, securely erase all the data from the drive, and then it’ll perform a clean installation of Windows 10. (See also video tutorial on how to complete this task.)

Erase hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 with USB media 

Alternatively, you can also start your computer with a USB media to erase the hard drive and perform a clean installation of Windows 10.

To wipe out the hard drive and clean install Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Start your PC with the USB bootable media.

2. Press any key to continue.

3. Click the Next button.

4. Click the Install now button.

   

5. Click the I don’t have a product key option.

   

6. Select the edition of Windows 10 that your license key activates (if applicable).

   

7. Check the I accept the license terms option.

8. Click the Next button.

9. Select the Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) option.

   

10. Select each partition on the hard drive that you want to install Windows 10, and click the Delete button to erase the drive. (Usually, the “Drive 0” is the drive that contains all the installation files.)

    

11. Select the wiped out hard drive (Drive 0 Unallocated Space) to install Windows 10.

12. Click the Next button to begin the installation.

13. After the installation, select your region in the first page of the out-of-the-box experience (OOBE).

    

14. Click the Yes button.

15. Select your keyboard layout.

    

16. Click the Yes button.

17. Click the Skip button if you don’t need to configure a second keyboard layout.

18. If the device is using an Ethernet connection, it’ll connect to the network automatically. If you have a wireless connection, you will need to set up the connection manually.

19. Select the Set up for personal use option. (Option available only on Windows 10 Pro)

20. Click the Next button.

21. Confirm your Microsoft account email, phone number, or Skype identification to create an account.

    

22. Click the Next button.

23. Confirm your Microsoft account password.

24. Click the Next button.

25. Click the Create a PIN button.

    

26. Create a new PIN password.

    

27. Click the OK button.

28. Select your privacy settings that best suits your needs.

    

29. Click the Accept button.

30. Click the Yes button if you want to use Timeline across devices.

    

31. Click the Do it later button to skip linking your phone to your PC. (You can always do this from the Settings app.)

    

32. Click the Next button to allow OneDrive to backup your Desktop, Pictures, and Documents folders to the cloud automatically. Or click the Only save file to this PC option to skip the step.

    

33. Click the No, thanks button to skip the Office 365 setup.

    

34. Click the Accept button to enable Cortana. (If you want to use the “Hey Cortana” feature, also check the Respond when I say “Hey Cortana” option.)

After you complete the steps, the hard drive will be wiped out and a clean copy of Windows 10 will be installed on the device. Also, after the installation, you’ll need to complete the out-of-box experience (OOBE) to finish setting up your account and personal settings. However, if you are intending to decommission or sell the computer, you don’t need to go through the steps to complete the setup. 

While there are multiple ways to erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system, using the USB bootable media is perhaps the best option to complete the process since it allows you to manually wipe out the drive and the installation process is likely to cause less problems than using the reset option.