Windows 10: See List of All Available System Restore Points in Windows

How to: See List of All Available System Restore Points in Windows

How to See List of All Available System Restore Points in Windows


system restore that takes your PC back to an earlier point in time, called a system restore point. This can be handy if your PC isn't working well and you recently installed an app, driver, or update.

Each restore point contains the necessary information needed to restore the system to the chosen state. Restore points are automatically generated when you install a new app, driver, or Windows update, and generated when you Restoring wont affect your personal files in your %UserProfile% folder, but it will remove apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was created.

This tutorial will show you how to see a list of all available system restore points in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

*note You will need to be signed in as an administrator to see available restore points.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: See List of All Available System Restore Points in System Restore
• Option Two: See List of All Available System Restore Points in Command Prompt
• Option Three: See List of All Available System Restore Points in PowerShell

OPTION ONE [/i] See List of All Available System Restore Points in System Protection
1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type rstrui into Run, and click/tap on OK to open System Restore.

2. If you have never done a System Restore yet, click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)



3. If you had previously done a System Restore, select (dot) Choose a different restore point, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)



4. All current restore points will now be listed with a Date and Time created, Description, and Type of restore point for each. (see screenshot below)

*note You can check the Show more restore points box (if available) at the bottom left corner to see any older restore points (if available) not currently listed.

*tip You can click/tap on the Scan for affected programs button to see which installed programs will be affected by the currently selected restore point.



5. When finished reviewing your restore points, you can click/tap on the Cancel button or close the System Restore window. (see screenshot above)





OPTION TWO [/i] See List of All Available System Restore Points in Command Prompt
*note To see more vssadmin list shadows command usage details, see: Vssadmin list shadows | Microsoft Docs
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

*note This will list all shadow copies (restore points) on all or specific drives. You will see the volume drive letter and shadow copy ID number for each one.
(List all available restore points for all drives)
*Arrow vssadmin list shadows

(Output list of all available restore points for all drives to text file on desktop)
*Arrow vssadmin list shadows >"%userprofile%\Desktop\Restore Points.txt"

OR

(List all available restore points for specific drive)
*Arrow vssadmin list shadows /For=<drive letter>:

(Output list of all available restore points for specific drive to text file on desktop)
*Arrow vssadmin list shadows /For=<drive letter>: >"%userprofile%\Desktop\Restore Points.txt"

*note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "C") of the drive that has saved restore points on you want to see a list of.

For example: vssadmin list shadows /For=C:











OPTION THREE [/i] See List of All Available System Restore Points in PowerShell
*note To see more Get-ComputerRestorePoint command usage details, see: Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Microsoft Docs
1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Copy and paste the command below you want to use into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)
(List all available restore points for all drives)
*Arrow Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-Table -AutoSize

(Output list of all available restore points for all drives to text file on desktop)
*Arrow Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File -filepath "$Env:userprofile\Desktop\Restore Points.txt"

OR

(List all available restore points for all drives with more details)
*Arrow Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-List

(Output list of all available restore points for all drives with more details to text file on desktop)
*Arrow Get-ComputerRestorePoint | Format-List | Out-File -filepath "$Env:userprofile\Desktop\Restore Points.txt"







That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable System Restore in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off System Protection for Drives in Windows 10
• How to Do a System Restore of Windows 10
• How to Create a System Restore Point in Windows 10
• How to Add a 'Create Restore Point' Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to Make a 'Create System Restore Point' Shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Delete System Restore Points in Windows 10
• How to Undo a System Restore in Windows 10
• How to Change System Protection Maximum Storage Size for Drive in Windows 10
• How to Create System Protection shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Automatically Create System Restore Point at Startup in Windows 10
• How to Automatically Create System Restore Point on Schedule in Windows 10
• How to Change System Restore Point Creation Frequency in Windows 10
• How to Add System Protection Context Menu in Windows 10

:)

 

Windows Modules Installer listed in System Restore points

It seems, you can disable it in CCleaner, also. . . worked for me, anaway. ✔

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

No Bree, Only restore points...

No intentions to distract you guys.

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

Windows 10 64-bit.
When I click "show more restore points" in System Restore I see a bunch of old "system image restore points" that were deleted in past and do not correspond to any currently active restore points. Clicking any of these old restore points, I simply get an error message saying they could not be found, and to select another restore point instead.I would like to delete these restore points listings but have been unable to do so.
So far, I have tried steps mentioned below without any luck :

Disk Cleanup through (C Properties
Disable System Protection (OFF and ON) in System Protection for OS (C
Disk Space Usage to minimum (slider button all the way to the left then 'Delete all restore points for this drive'),
Delete all shown Restore points in CCleaner (the problem ones do not show here),
Reset Windows Backup to Default in Windows 10 with 'Reset_Windows_Backup.bat' utility.

Any suggestions highly welcome.

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

Have you tried that after making a system image with 'Backup & Restore (Windows 7)'? That adds the system image you created to the list of available restore points, it's those items in the list of available restore points that can be difficult to remove.

 

How to delete inactive System Image Restore Points in System Restore

AndreTen - I have tried Disk Cleanup but unfortunately the problem entries did not go away.
I feel certain Bree (VIP Member) has identified the correct cause of this problem as above and his adviced solution should also do the trick.

- - - Updated - - -

Bree - Thank you. I must admit that I did use 'Create system image' a few times in 'Backup & Restore (Windows 7)' instead of 'Backup now' and these ghost entries relate to those actions. You have rightly identified the cause of this issue.
It is crazy that Microsoft has put two different backup options causing the issue of these ghost restore points.

Regarding your advice on how to rectify the issue - I must add that I am not very computer savvy and feel reluctant to use Diskpart utility etc to delete 'WindowsImageBackup\SPPMetadataCache' and 'WindowsImageBackup\Catalog folders' from within 'System Volume Information' folder with command Prompt as I fear damaging the pc by making any mistakes, as I have never done this before.

Please advice if there may be another simpler method to delete the above folders OR if you are able and have time to post a step by step instructions (with pictures if possible) on how to follow your advice. Much appreciated.