Your Windows 11 System Restore points may vanish 30 days earlier than you'd expect

If you're in the habit of making System Restore points on Windows 11, first of all, good on you for making backups. It's always good to have something to go back to if a drive goes wrong or a system file goes missing somehow, and if you set it up just right, you can have them automatically make themselves without you even needing to lift a finger.

However, it seems that Microsoft has tweaked how System Restore works. In short, your System Restore points may end up expiring 30 days sooner than you thought they would, and the "may" part is what's kind of weird about this update.

Microsoft declares a 60-day expiry time for System Restore points

As spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft is adjusting how long System Restore points are sticking around for. As it states in the patch notes for build KB5060842:

[System Restore] After installing the June 2025 Windows security update, Windows 11, version 24H2 will retain system restore points for up to 60 days. To apply a restore point, select Open System Restore. Restore points older than 60 days are not available. This 60-day limit will also apply to future versions of Windows 11, version 24H2.

Windows Latest then confirmed that, after the update hit its system, it reported that System Restore points are scheduled to expire after 60 days.

Okay, so that's interesting, but how long did System Restore points used to last? Well, they're "meant" to last around 90 days, and we put "meant" in quotes there because it's not always 90 days.

As Windows Latest notes, sometimes a System Restore point will hang around for the full 90 days before expiring. However, it also notes that they will sometimes expire much sooner, such as 10 days afterward. As such, this change may either reduce the time your System Restore points stick around or extend them. A little confusing, but at least it's more consistent now. Maybe.

If this is the first time you've heard of System Restore points, you may want to get them enabled as soon as you can. As noted in our article on the topic, they can be an excellent way to bring your PC back from the brink of a system-critical bug or issue. I personally like using them before I do a big driver update on my PC, because if anything goes wrong, I can just rewind back to before I ever made the change. Saves a ton of headaches trying to play whack-a-mole with drivers, anyway.