Is It Normal for A System Restore on Windows 10 to Take Three or More Hours? How Long Should It Take?

Windows always reminded me to upgrade to Windows 11 system a few days ago, and I did so. But I found that I prefer the original Windows 10. So, I used System Restore to try to recover from the previous version. But I wait for three to four hours until that process finishes. Is it normal? How long should it take to perform a system restore?

Windows 10 System Restore takes so long to restore isn't normal unless your hardware condition is poor or the volume of information that needs to be processed is too large. Generally speaking, it only takes a few minutes for the System Restore to complete, and it is unnecessary to wait three or more hours. 

When Windows restores the files, it transfers them from the hard drive to the RAM. If you have a large number of files that need to be transferred, this process can take some time. Additionally, if your hard drive is quite full, Windows may need to delete some files in order to make room for the restored ones. 

If your computer is equipped with a good processor and enough RAM, system restore should take no more than 15 minutes or so. However, if you have an older machine with limited resources, it could take up to 45 minutes.

As you can see, System Restore will hang for some small issues. If you don't want to face these problems or don't want to use System Restore, EaseUS Todo Backup is a better alternative to System Restore, which has the Universal Restore feature. You can use it to perform a system restore with only three steps, and wait for about 15-30 minutes. The time depends on the system size. 

The bottom line is that a System Restore on the Windows 10 should not take three or more hours. If it is taking too long, then there is definitely something wrong, and you may need to contact an expert for further assistance.