Deleted files suddenly appear again

Microsoft has confirmed that a critical error occurred in the Windows 10 and 11 reset function. The data may not be completely removed as expected, but instead may be recovered later. A temporary solution provides treatment.

Windows 10 and 11: Reset failed

If you want to sell a computer or laptop, you must do a system reset beforehand to completely remove your private data. Microsoft offers its own tool for Windows 10 and 11 for this. Now the company has publicly confirmed that “reset” doesn’t always work. become partial Not all user data is removed. This leads to a security issue where the files can be accessed again later.

According to Microsoft, the issue only occurs when users rely on the OneDrive cloud solution. of all appearances Files stored there are still available locallyWhen you select “Remove everything and reinstall Windows”. Individual and corporate OneDrive accounts are affected equally (source: Microsoft). Only files that are backed up in the cloud and not locally are affected by the error.

According to the group, the Windows 10 and 11 reset function can still be used safely if a file OneDrive account disconnected will. So it is likely that logging out of OneDrive will suffice before performing the reset. Alternatively, OneDrive can be uninstalled.

Windows 11 can also be installed on older PCs:

Make resetting Windows PCs safe next

If Windows PCs with existing OneCloud access have already been reset, Microsoft recommends Delete the folder Windows.old. If you don’t want to do it manually, you can also do the removal via the settings under Storage.