How to Backup and Restore the Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is an important database that stores configuration settings and options for the Windows operating system and many of the programs you have installed. If you ever need to make changes to the registry you should back it up. In this video I’ll be showing you how to easily backup and restore individual sections of the registry. After that I’ll show you how to back up and restore the entire registry.

Windows 11 Tips & Tricks Playlist
Windows 10 Tips & Tricks Playlist

0:00 Intro
0:04 How to Open Registry Editor
1:02 How to Backup Section of Windows Registry
2:08 How to Restore Section Backup
2:36 How to Backup Entire Registry
3:39 How to Restore Entire Registry Backup

WATCH MORE VIDEOS:

Brett In Tech is a leading source for the technology that we use each day. Whether it’s discussing computer tricks and tips for Windows, the latest tips for your mobile phone, finding out about the newest gadgets, or letting you know about the most useful software and websites, Brett In Tech has boundless topics on technology for the astute YouTube viewer.

[BrettInTech]

DO NOT EVER MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE REGISTRY WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE DOING & BACKING IT UP FIRST!!! Making incorrect changes to the Registry could issues like Windows and programs crashing or make them no longer start… Thanks for watching :)

[victoriabrister]

What a pleasant surprise today. Enjoy the tutorials.

[sapelesteve]

Yet another interesting & well explained tutorial! Thanks Brett! 👍👍

[jeremiahlyleseditor]

Wonderful Brett.
This was wonderful Brrett. Unlike many others I buy machines to use them functionally not dabbling under the hood to adjust the settings.
This was something I could have probably used long ago thus saving me the time used when reinstalling the entire OS due to corruption. Hurry with the next one.
Thank you.

[freecycling]

Nice clear video, no wasted time! So let's say you back up the registry, make a change or two, but mess it up. Can you usually boot into safe mode and restore the registry there, or is that a hit or miss proposition? If so, is there a reliable method of restoring the registry once you've messed it up?

[carloschaparro]

Good luck trying to fully restore the registry. I've never been able to fully restore it as an error always occurs and the PC becomes unusable. What I'm saying can be recreated with a virtual machine. One of the error said: Cannot import: Not all data was successfully written to the registry. Some keys are open by the system or other processes, or you have insufficient privileges to perform this operation. It's better to back up the entire system partition with some program than to back up just the registry. System Restore is even better than creating a just a .reg file.

[KINDanon]

My complete registry backup .reg file was 433MB. Compressed using 7zip into .7z format it's only 16MB.

[mk_Daniel_Williams]

Do you recommend using registry cleaners?