If you’re ready to replace your old PC and hand it down to a friend or family member, you’ll need to wipe your data and reset it. Follow these instructions to make sure you do it the right way.
Are you starting the new year with a new PC? What are you going to do with the computer it’s replacing?
You might be planning to hand down the old device to a family member or reassign it to another employee in your small business. Perhaps you’ll donate it to a local charity, put it up for sale, or take advantage of an offer to trade in the old device.
Before you do any of those things, your top three priorities should be migrating your apps and files to your new device, expunging your personal data from the old PC, and resetting the operating system on the device you plan to recycle, so the new owner can be productive right away. As with all things Windows, there are multiple ways to accomplish these goals.
In this post, I’ll outline your options, along with some thoughts on when to choose each one. (Spoiler: The most important question is who you’re planning to give the PC to.)
But first, a few things you should do to get that old PC ready.Step 1: Migrate your apps and files
Your new PC comes with a squeaky-clean installation of Windows. Before you can get any serious work accomplished, you need to install the apps you use regularly. You can use this opportunity to weed out old apps you no longer use, or you can simply transfer everything and sort through it later.
Start on the old PC by running the Windows Backup app, which is included with supported versions of Windows 11.
The Windows Backup app saves a core group of apps and settings.
It uses your personal Microsoft account to back up Windows settings as well as a complete list of apps you’ve installed from the Microsoft Store. It also gives you the option to back up your personal folders (Documents, Pictures, and Desktop) to OneDrive storage so you can transfer them from the cloud to your new PC.
Run Windows Backup on your old PC to save its current state to the cloud. Then go to the new PC and sign in with the same Microsoft account; as part of the initial setup process, you’ll get the option to restore your new profile using the backup you just saved.
Back on the old PC, you’ll need to take an additional inventory of legacy software (older Windows desktop apps that are not available from the Microsoft Store). You can find a list of these programs by going to Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features. Make sure you have any activation codes or installer files you need to reinstall the apps on your new PC, and remove the activation for any programs that require that option.
Next, make sure your important files are backed up. If you use a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox, any data files you’ve uploaded will be easy to transfer to the new PC. As an extra precaution, I recommend creating an image backup of your old PC, saving its contents to a removable hard drive. (For instructions, see “Windows 10 how-to: Create a full image backup using this hidden tool.
