A Windows clean install can remove all files, settings, and apps on a computer. It is a good choice if you want to sell your computer or give it to others. In this post, MiniTool Software shows you a graphic guide on how to clean install Windows 10 21H1 on your computer.
How to Clean Install Windows 10 21H1?
Before you sell your computer or give it to your friend, you’d better clean install Windows operating system because this will remove all data, settings, and apps to protect your privacy. The new owner can use the device as a new one.
Well then, how to perform a Windows 10 21H1 clean install?
The Media Creation Tool for Windows 10 21H1 is such a tool that can help you clean install or upgrade to Windows 10. You can also use this method to install the latest Windows 10 21H1 update on your device.
Here is a graphic guide.
Illustrated Guide to Windows 10 21H1 Clean Install
Step 1: Download Windows 10 21H1 Media Creation Tool
First, you need to download the Windows 10 21H1 Media Creation Tool from Microsoft’s Windows download site. It is a free Windows 10 21H1 ISO file creator.
- Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10.
- Click the Download tool now button under Create Windows 10 installation media. The file named exe will be downloaded on your computer.
Step 2: Create a Windows 10 21H1 Installation Medium
Now, you can use the Windows 10 21H1 Media Creation Tool to create an installation medium. In this step, you need to prepare a USB drive that is at least 8GB of space and connect it to your computer.
1. Double-click the tool to open it. When you see the User Account Control interface, click Yes to continue.
2. When you see the following interface, click the Accept button to continue.
3. Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC.
4. Click Next.
5. On the next page, the language, edition, and architecture are selected by default. If you want to change them according to your requirements, you need to uncheck Use the recommended options for this PC.
6. Click Next.
7. Select USB flash drive.
8. Click Next.
9. The connected USB flash drive appears. You need to make sure it is selected. If you can’t see it, you can check the connection and click Refresh drive list to detect it.
10. Click Next.
11. The Windows 10 21H1 Media Creation Tool will begin to download Windows 10 and then creating Windows 10 media. You need to wait patiently until the whole process ends.
12. When the process ends, you will see the following interface. Click Finish to close the interface.
Step 3: Clean Install Windows 10 21H1 from USB
Now, you can clean install Windows 21H1 from USB installation media. Here is a full guide.
1. Shut down your computer.
2. Boot your computer into BIOS.
3. Set your device to start with the Windows 10 USB medium.
4. When you see the Windows Setup interface, you should click the Next button to continue. However, if the default settings are not suitable for you, you can select them according to your requirement before clicking Next.
5. Click Install now.
6. If it is the first time for you to install Windows 10, you need to enter the product key and click Next to continue. If not, you can click I don’t have a product key to continue.
7. You can find Windows 10 Home x64/x86 (all versions), Windows 10 Education x64/x86 (all versions), and Windows Pro x64/x86 (all versions) here. Select the Windows 10 version you want to install.
8. Click Next.
9. Select I accept the license terms to continue.
10. Click Next.
11. Since you want to perform a Windows 10 21H1 clean install, you need to select Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced) to continue.
12. Select the partition where the system is currently installed (usually, it is Drive 0) and the partition you select should have enough space (at least 10337MB).
13. Click the Delete button to continue.
14. A small window pops up, prompting the risk of deleting this partition. Click OK to confirm the deletion.
15. Select Drive 0 Unallocated Space.
16. Click Next.
17. After these steps, Windows Setup will begin to install a fresh copy of Windows 10 21H1 on your device.
If you don’t want to use your computer anymore and want to sell it or give it to others, you can stop now. The newer owner can complete the Windows 21H1 out-of-box experience. However, if you still want to use it, you need to do it yourself.
Step 4: Continue with Windows 10 21H1 Out-of-Box Experience
When the Windows 10 setup ends, you still need to configure your preferences and create a new Microsoft account.
The Windows 10 out-of-box experience will start from the Let’s start with region interface. You can select your region. Then, continue with the keyboard layout selection, account creation, password setting, etc. When you see the default desktop, your experience ends.
Step 5: Other Setup after Windows 10 21H1 Clean Install
After Windows 10 21H1 clean install, you’d better check your system to make sure it doesn’t miss any critical updates and drivers. Here are the things you should check.
1. Install Updates
Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates to install the available updates.
2. Check Missing Drivers
Right-click Start and select Device Manager. Then check whether there are devices that have a yellow or red mark. The unknown drivers are also the issued drivers. If there are, you need to update them.
3. Restore Your Backup
The data restore method depends on which data backup tool you are using.
Additionally, you also need to make sure your Windows 10 is activated. After clean installing Windows 10, you also need to install your needed apps on your computer.
Bottom Line
This is the full guide to clean install Windows 10 21H1 on your computer.
You can use the free Windows 10 21H1 Media Creation Tool to build a bootable USB drive and clean install Windows 10 21H1 from USB. It is easy to do this. Just follow the guide in this post.
Should you have any other issues, you can let us know in the comments.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 7 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery and phone data recovery, YouTube videos download, partition management, and video conversions.