How to Recover Deleted System Files in Windows 10[2025 Ultimate Guide]

What Happens When Deleting System Files?

System files in Windows 10 are essential for the operating system to function properly, as they contain critical code for booting the system, managing hardware, and running applications. These files include drivers, registry files, configuration files, and other critical system components. Accidentally deleting or corrupting system files can lead to system instability, error messages, or even make the system unbootable.

When an important system file is deleted, your system may experience the following problems:

• Application Crashes: Programs relying on missing files may stop working.
• System Slowdown: Missing files can cause inefficiencies, as the system may attempt to access non-existent or corrupted files.
• Boot Issues: Deleting crucial files like "ntoskrnl.exe" or "winload.exe" can prevent Windows from booting up.
• Blue Screen of Death (BSOD): Missing or corrupted system files often lead to the notorious BSOD errors.

If you've accidentally deleted system files or if they’ve become corrupted, it’s critical to take action quickly to recover the deleted system files and prevent further damage to your system. Let’s dive into how to recover deleted system files in Windows 10.

How to Recover Deleted System Files in Windows 10

Before proceeding to specific recovery steps, it is essential to diagnose whether deleted system files affect the normal boot functionality of the system. If your computer appears to be running normally, you can directly recover the deleted system files just like recovering personal files. However, if your computer fails to boot entirely or displays a blue screen/black screen, you will need to reset the system to make it usable again. Choose the appropriate recovery method based on your actual situation.​

Recover Deleted System Files from Bootable Computer

When your system is still running normally, you can attempt to recover deleted system files using simpler methods. If the issue persists and the system is functional but problematic, you can repair these files after the recovery.

✅Check the Recycle bin

Regardless of the file type you delete, always check the Recycle Bin first. This is where deleted (non-permanently deleted) files are most likely to be stored.

Step 1. Double click the Recycle Bin icon to open it.

Step 2. Browse and select the files you wish to recover, then right click and choose "Restore" to recover it.

✅Use Windows File Recovery 

If the files aren’t in the Recycle Bin, you can use Windows File Recovery, a Microsoft tool that can help recover deleted files, including system files. Here's how to recover deleted files using Windows File Recovery Command.

Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery on your computer from the official Microsoft channel.

Step 2. Enter the command "winfr C: D: /extensive" and hit "Enter". Replace the drive letters "C" and "D"  with your actual drive letters.

Step 3. Press "y" to continue the process. When the process is completed, you can check the recovered files in the destination folder by pressing "y".

Repair Corrupted System Files Using Command-line

If certain functions still don't work properly after recovering the desired system files, this may be caused by corrupted system files. You can choose between the following two methods to repair the corrupted system files based on your needs.

✅Option A. Run System File Checker

System File Checker is a Windows utility that scans for and repairs corrupted or missing system files. It helps maintain the integrity of your operating system by verifying and restoring these files from a cached copy.

Step 1. Type "command prompt" in the Start menu and right click to choose "Run as administrator".

Step 2. Enter the command "sfc / scannow" and press "Enter". This command will scan your system for corrupted or missing system files and automatically fix them.

Step 3. When the process is completed, restart your computer to check if the problem is solved.

✅Option B. Run DISM Command

The DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) tool is a command-line utility in Windows used for servicing and preparing Windows images. It's a key tool for maintaining system health and managing image deployments in enterprise or troubleshooting scenarios.

Step 1. Type "command prompt" in the Start menu and right click to choose "Run as administrator".

Step 2. Enter the command "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" and press "Enter". Wait for the process to finish, as it may take some time.

Step 3. After the process is finished, run SFC again (as mentioned above) to ensure everything is fixed.

Recover Deleted System Files from Unbootable Computer

If too many system files or extremely critical ones are lost, Windows may become unbootable. In such cases, the only way to restore system files is to use third-party software like MyRecover or to reset the system to make the computer usable again.

✅Recover from Third-Party Software—MyRecover

If Windows fails to boot, you can try using professional data recovery software like MyRecover to retrieve your personal or system files. MyRecover's signature feature is recovering data from crashed Windows systems, and it only reads data during the process—never overwriting any data. Additionally, it supports data recovery in various complex scenarios, including unreadable partitions, formatted drives, and deleted partitions. Follow these steps to recover your files using MyRecover:

Notes:✎...

If your computer can start up, there's no need to create a bootable disk. Please skip to step 5.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on a working computer. And prepare a blank USB flash drive (at least 8GB recommended).

Step 2. Launch it and connect the USB drive to the working computer. Click "PC Crashed Recovery" section, select "USB Boot Device" and click "Create" to make a bootable media.

Step 3. Wait several minutes until the bootable disk has been created successfully. Insert the bootable drive to the unbootable Windows.

Step 4. Boot the computer using the created bootable drive and enter the BIOS (usually pressing "F2", "F12" or "ESC"). 

Step 5. When you enter the interface of MyRecover, select the C drive to scan for the lost files and click "Scan".

Step 6. Choose files you wish to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover". You can use the file preview feature to confirm whether they're the files you need.

Step 7. Select a safe location (not the original one) to save the recovered files.

✅System Restore

If you’ve created restore points before the system files were deleted, you can use System Restore to revert your system back to a previous working state. Then the corrupted computer will be accessible.

Step 1. Force restarting your computer three times to trigger Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), then click "Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore".

Step 2. Select the restore point that was created before the system file deletion occurred.

Step 3. Select "Scan for affected programs" to check the applications that are going to be deleted and click "Finish".

Step 4. When the process is finished, your PC will reboot, and the system files will be restored.

✅Reset Windows

If System Restore isn’t an option or you haven't created a system restore point, you can reset Windows to its factory settings. This will reinstall Windows, but you can choose whether or not to keep your personal files.

Step 1. Force restarting your computer three times to trigger WinRE. Choose "Troubleshooting > Reset this PC".

Step 2. Choose "Keep my files" to preserve your personal files. Otherwise, all of the files, apps, settings will be erased.

Step 3. Choose "Local reinstall" to reinstall Windows on this device and click "Next".

Step 4. After confirming the reset settings, click "Reset" to start the process.

Summary

Losing critical system files can cause serious issues in Windows 10, from system instability to complete boot failure. Fortunately, you can recover the deleted system files without losing data by using above methods.

If your computer fails to boot, use professional data recovery software like MyRecover to restore critical personal data before resetting the system. For home and enterprise users, MyRecover's Technician Edition is more suitable because it allows multiple device activations with a single license.