Here's why you should never restart your PC while upgrading to Windows 11

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Key notes

  • Many of us have already taken a leap of faith and upgraded to the new Microsoft OS.
  • However, the experience has unfortunately not been just as smooth for all of the users.
  • Whether the upgrade gets stuck at start or at 100%, never restart your PC mid-process.
  • This action will send your device into a continuous reboot loop that can last for hours.
reset windows 11

We all know that Windows 11 was officially released to the general public on October 5th, 2021. Before that, only Insiders got to fiddle with the new OS.

And, since then, this latest operating system has received mixed reviews, with people debating in what ways it’s better or even worse than its predecessor.

That being said, the adoption rate for Windows 11 is actually twice that of what Windows 10 had back on its launch day.

And yes, there still are a lot of bugs and glitches to be rooted out from the new OS, as many of you may already be aware of.

For example, some users are struggling with Windows 11 getting stuck in a continuous restart loop, when they try to boot the system, for no apparent reason.

Since we’re speaking about loops, we’re about to show you what happens if you decide to interrupt the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 by performing a hard restart. Spoiler alert, don’t.

Performing a hard restart while upgrading will cause a loop

Needless to say, you should never restart your device while any type of update is being applied, especially a Windows system update.

That can seriously harm your PC’s software and, if nothing else works, you might even have to perform a clean install, which for some people means also losing everything on the device.

And, if you decided to leave Windows 10 behind and discover what the new Redmond experience has to offer, remember that rebooting your machine while it is still in the process is a major no-no.

Why, you ask? Well, because you will get stuck in a continuous restart loop, which can go on for quite some time, if you don’t know how to manage the situation.

As you can see from this user’s experience, this action can have dire consequences, and it’s best if you don’t even think about this possibility really.

It’s also true that the creator of the post mentioned the fact that his upgrade wasn’t quite going as planned, being stuck for eight whole hours.

This can also happen and it’s best you know what to do when it does. If your Windows 11 download is stuck, we have some steps that will help you in this situation.

Or, you can find yourself in a scenario where everything goes smooth until the Windows 11 upgrade process reaches 100% completion, where again, it might get stuck.

But under no circumstances should you ever perform a hard reset on your device while it’s still upgrading operating systems and expect no consequences.

What can I do if it happens?

Now, don’t go thinking this will happen one hundred percent every time someone tries to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

There are remote cases in which users will have to deal with this nuisance, but it is not as common as you might think.

However, on the off chance it does happen, there really isn’t much to do really instead, of course, reinstalling the operating system.

Make sure you have a USB with the Windows 10 installer on it, boot it from your BIOS, select Repair this PC and leave it to it.

Keep in mind that you might have to completely reinstall the OS, so don’t exclude this scenario. And since we’re talking about restoring, we can help if you need to fix corrupted files in Windows 10 or Windows 11.

So, now, if this happens to you for any reason, you will know what to do, although it would be for the better not to put yourself in such a predicament.

Have you ever gone through a similar experience while upgrading to Windows 11? Let us know in the comments section below.

More about the topics: Windows 11 Software & Apps