Factory Reset Dell Inspiron 15: How To Bring Your Dell Back to Life?

If you are facing any issue when trying to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15, you are in the right place. In this article, we’ll teach you all the common methods that’ll return your Dell laptop to its factory settings.

At the end of this article, your computer will feel like a brand new one. Now, grab your computer, and let’s fix it.

How To Factory Reset Dell Inspiron 15

You can do a Dell factory reset on your Inspiron 15 using any of the following methods:

• Use Windows Built-in Reset Method.
• Use Advanced Startup Options to reset your computer.
• Use the Fresh Start option on the older versions of Windows 10.
• Use an installation media to reset your computer.

– Use Windows Built-in Reset Method

Microsoft Windows has a built-in tool that you can use to reset your Inspiron 15. It’s the “Reset this PC” feature under the “Recovery” settings in the system settings. This method is the easiest because Windows will guide you through the process. Before you proceed, use the Dell backup and restore feature to backup your files.

You can use the backup option to restore your files in case something goes wrong. Now, the following are the steps that show how to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 5000. Also, you can use the steps to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 Windows 7.

• Press the Start Menu.
• Type in “Settings” and open the “Settings” menu.
• Click on “Update and Security”.
• On Windows 11, click on “System”.
• Select “Recovery”
• Click the “Get Started” button under “Reset this PC”
• On Windows 11, click “Reset PC” to start the laptop factory reset process.
• Windows gives you options “Keep your files” or “Remove Everything”.
• With “Keep your files”, your computer will return to its defaults. But you’ll lose installed applications.
• With “Remove Everything”, your files and installed applications get deleted.
• You can also choose between “Local reinstall” or “Cloud download”.

On the next screen, there are some extra settings; select the one that suits you. Once you are sure of your selection, click the “Confirm” button to begin the reset. The reset can take hours, so it’s best to have your Dell laptop plugged into a power outlet.

– Use Advanced Startup Options To Rest Your Computer

This method, also known as advanced boot options, is an advanced way to reset your computer. It’ll reset your computer to its defaults, and it’ll look like a new one. To get started on Windows, there are two ways you can do this.

The following is the first way that shows how to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series Windows 11:

• Click the Start menu and find the “Settings”.
• Navigate to “Update and Security”.
• On Windows 11, select “System”.
• Choose “Recovery”.
• Click on “Restart now” under “Advanced startup”.
• On Windows 11, click on “Restart now” next to “Advanced startup”.
• Your computer will restart.

The following is the second way to access the “Advanced Startup”:

• Open the “Start Menu”.
• Hold down the “Shift” key.
• Press the “Restart” menu to boot into the “Advanced Startup”.

When your computer restarts, the Advanced Startup menu will open. Then select “Troubleshoot” and click on “Reset the PC” to reset windows. Let the process run to completion, and your Dell laptop will be good as new.

– Use the Fresh Start Option on Older Version of Windows 10

If you have the older Windows version installed, you’ll not have access to the previous methods. Instead, you can reset your laptop using the Fresh Start option. This option will start your computer afresh, and it’s how to factory reset a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series:

• Open Windows “Settings” via the “Start menu”.
• Locate the “Update and Security” settings.
• Open the “Recovery” page.
• Click the link that says “Learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of Windows”. This will open up the “Windows Security” app.
• Click on “Get Started” under Fresh Start in “Windows Security”.

Behind the scenes, Fresh Start will do the following:

• Keep your files, but you cannot do a full factory reset.
• Downloads the latest version of Windows from Microsoft servers.
• Removes non-standard Windows applications.
• It’ll keep some Windows Settings, but it’s not specific on the settings that it keeps.

– Using an Installation Media to Reset Your Computer

Microsoft provides a Media Creation Tool that you can use to install a new copy of Windows. You can get the tool from Microsoft’s official website, then run the tool on a computer to create bootable media. You can create the media onto a USB drive or an ISO image that you can burn to a DVD. Once you have the bootable media, the USB  drive, or DVD, plug it into your computer.

Now, the following shows how to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series Windows 10:

• Restart your PC, or switch it on.
• Press the appropriate keys to access the boot menu.
• Boot your computer from the USB drive or DVD.
• If you can’t see the USB drive or DVD in the boot menu, access your BIOS.
• Change the boot order and ensure the USB drive or the DVD is at the top.
• Press any key to boot from the USB drive or DVD.
• Choose “Repair my computer” at the bottom-left corner of the blue screen.
• Select “Troubleshoot” and click “Reset this PC”.

Let the process run to completion, and it’ll reset your PC to its factory settings. If you encounter issues along the way, you can repeat the process. Also, if you want to know how to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series Windows 7, the previous steps apply.

How To Factory Reset Dell Inspiron 15 Without Password

If you can’t remember your administrator password, you can reset it from the sign-in screen. To get started, switch on your computer and ensure it gets to the sign-in screen. Now, the following is how to factory reset Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series without password:

• Hold down the “Shift” key.
• Click the “Power sign” at the bottom-right corner of the sign-in screen.
• Select “Restart” from the pop-up menu and ensure you are still holding the “Shift” key. This will restart the system into “Advanced Startup”.
• Select “Troubleshoot” on the “Advanced Startup” menu.
• Click on “Reset this PC”.

After clicking on “Reset this PC”, Windows will start the reset process. Depending on your files and computer, this can take hours to complete. You should have your computer plugged into power so that it won’t shut down during the process. On completion, your computer will return to its defaults, so you’ll have to create a new admin password.

Conclusion

In this article, we explained the most common methods that’ll reset Dell laptop Inspiron 15.

The following are the important things to remember:

• You can use Windows built-in method to reset your computer.
• There are two types of reset methods they are “Keep my files” and “Remove everything”.
• You can hold down the Shift key and click on Restart to reset your computer.
• Fresh Start is an older version of “Reset this PC” on an older version of Windows 10.
• You can create a bootable media to reset your computer.

All the information in this article will help you reset your computer. This is a good thing if you’re running into issues and you need to use your computer.