Use F10 to restore factory settings on a HUAWEI Windows computer

Applicable products： PC，Desktop

Applicable products：

Use F10 to restore factory settings on a HUAWEI Windows computer

The F10 system restore function on your Windows computer quickly returns your computer to its factory settings.

The MateBook first-generation (Hertz) does not support the F10 restoration feature.
After you press F10 to restore factory settings, the BIOS version will not be affected.

1. Precautions

Data security: Restoring factory settings will delete data (including desktop files, downloads, and documents) and software installed on C drive. Please back up data before restoring factory settings. Other drives and data in the drives are not affected.

For example, the default cache path of WeChat/QQ is This PC > Windows (C) > Users > Your account name > Documents > WeChat Files/Tencent Files. Please back up your data before using F10 to restore factory settings.
Account and password: Remember the Microsoft account and password used to activate the Office software on your computer. After the restoration is complete, you need to enter the Microsoft account and password to configure the computer again.
Remove external devices: Before restoration, remove all external devices except the power adapter, keyboard, and mouse, such as the docking station or USB flash drive.
System version rollback: After you press F10 to restore factory settings, the system will be rolled back to the pre-installed system version. For example, for a computer that is pre-installed with Windows 10 and updated to Windows 11, the system will roll back to Windows 10 after you press F10 to restore factory settings. For details about how to update the system, see Updating to a higher version of Windows.

2. Using F10 to restore the computer to its factory settings

Use either of the following methods to access the screen for restoring factory settings:

If your computer is pre-installed with Windows 10 CMIT Government Edition, you can only use Method 1 to access the factory settings restoration screen.
- Method 1: Connect your computer to the power adapter and press the Power button. During the power-on process (before any screen is displayed), press and hold F10 immediately.
- Method 2: Connect your computer to the power adapter. Power on the computer, open Huawei PC Manager, click the four-dot icon in the upper right corner, go to Settings > System > Factory reset, and follow the onscreen instructions. Your computer will automatically restart. (The interface may vary depending on the PC Manager version.)

On the Huawei Intelligent Recovery screen, click Recovery.

The screen that appears after you press F10 may vary depending on the version being used. Please follow the onscreen instructions to proceed.
Click Change to back up the data to the specified drive. Click Browse to select the data to be backed up on C drive, and click Start.
For example, if you want to back up the data in the Users folder on C drive, click Browse, and select the Users folder. (This method can only back up some data in the Users folder. To back up all data in the Users folder, see Backing up the computer's hard disk data.)
- If you click Skip and do not back up the data in the C drive, the personal data in the C drive will be lost, and will not be restored after the computer is restored to its factory settings.
- After the restoration is complete, you need to reinstall the software installed on C drive (system disk). For software that was installed on a non-system disk (such as the D or E drive), you can decide whether to reinstall the software depending on their features.
- If you wish to back up data to an external storage device (such as a USB flash drive or portable hard disk), re-insert the device.
Once the backup is complete, you will be directed to the Restore factory settings screen.
On the Restore factory settings screen, click Start. Your computer will automatically be restored to its factory settings.
After the system has been restored, follow the onscreen instructions to complete configuring the system.

3. F10 factory settings restoration guide

After you use F10 to restore your computer to its factory settings, please reconfigure it. If you encounter any problems during use, please refer to the following instructions, or visit the HUAWEI Support official website for further assistance.

How can I view the backup data in C drive after I press F10 to restore factory settings?
The default backup path of the C drive is D:\Backup or D:\HUAWEI Backup. You can also manually back up the data to another drive or folder. After you press F10 to restore factory settings, you can go to D:\Backup or D:\HUAWEI Backup to view and use the backup data in C drive. For example, if you back up the data in the Users folder in C drive to D:\Backup, you can find the backup file in D:\Backup\Users after the restoration is complete.
After F10 restoration is complete, how do I activate Microsoft Office? What can I do if I forget the account or password?
- How to activate Office: The F10 function may vary depending on the device model. For certain models, after you press F10 to restore factory settings, you'll need to connect to the Internet and log in to your Microsoft account again to activate Office. After F10 restoration is complete, open any Office component. If the system displays a message indicating that the Office component is not activated, enter the account and password for activating the Office component for the first time, and log in to or activate the Office component as prompted.
- If you forget your Microsoft account or password when activating Office, please see Finding the Microsoft account and resetting the password.
How do I download the third-party application software after the F10 restoration is complete?
It is recommended that you download the apps from their official websites.
Why does the system version need to be updated after I use F10 to restore my computer to its factory settings?
After you use F10 to restore your computer to its factory settings, the system version (including drivers, such as the graphics card driver and Bluetooth driver) will be rolled back to the factory version. You'll need to wait for the system to automatically update, or manually update the system, in order to run the latest version.
After I use F10 to restore my computer to its factory settings, Windows Pro is restored to Windows Home. How can I update it to Windows Pro again?
After you restore your computer to its factory settings, you'll need to power on your computer and connect it to the Internet to activate the pre-installed Windows Home. You can then update it to Windows Pro again. In addition, you'll need to prepare the product key of the Windows Pro edition. You can find it in the email sent by the Windows seller or distributor, or on the Windows DVD or USB packing box.

The procedure is as follows:

Steps: Press Win+I at the same time to open the Settings window. Go to Update & Security > Activation > Change product key, enter the Windows 11 Pro product key, and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the activation.