Restore button may refer to any of the following:

  1. With a window, restore button is another term for the restore down button or maximize button.

  2. When referring to a physical button, the restore button is a button found on some laptops and routers. The hardware button may be labeled as a restore button or as the name of the software utility that initiates the system restore process. The restore button may also be one of the function keys. When the computer is starting up, pressing the function key starts the restore process.

Pressing the restore button or function key activates the software restore utility. The utility guides the user through the restore process. It is important to note that since the restore process will “reset” the computer back to its originally installed software package, all data is usually erased. Any personal files and software programs installed are deleted, so it is important to have personal files backed up.

For a listing of restore button function keys used with most computers, see our hidden partition definition.

Hardware terms, Reset, Restore, Restore down

  • How to back up your computer.
  • How to erase my hard drive and start over?
  • How to restore a Chrome OS computer back to factory settings.
  • How to reset a forgotten username and password on a router.