How to 100% wipe a pc before selling for windows 10 and windows 11

This is Microsoft's official method to wipe a pc before selling for Windows 11 safely and securely without extra software. It fully erases personal data, removes all your accounts, and resets the system to factory state, ensuring your privacy is fully protected when you hand over your device.

How to wipe a pc before selling for Windows 11

1. Save all files you wish to keep to an external hard drive, cloud storage or a USB stick.

2. Go to Settings → Accounts, then select Sign out, sign out of all third-party accounts, and delete any saved passwords.

3. Go to Settings → Update & Security → Recovery

4. Under ‘Reset this PC’, click Get started

5. Select ‘Remove everything’ to delete all personal files, apps and settings.

6. Click ‘Change settings’, then toggle Clean up the drive’ to On. This will overwrite your data multiple times, making it unrecoverable.

7. Click Confirm → Next → Reset to begin the process.

8. The process will take 1–3 hours, depending on the hard drive capacity and speed.

9. When the Windows setup screen appears, you may switch off the computer. The computer is now fully ready; when the new owner switches it on, they will see the out-of-the-box setup interface.

It is particularly useful for securely preparing a used Windows 11 computer for resale, gifting, or trade-in, protecting your sensitive information from unauthorized access.