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A new Windows computer is not quite ready when it comes out of the box. The manufacturer has added trial software, the settings are the defaults, and months of updates are waiting. Spending the first hour on the steps below, in this order, gives you a computer that is faster, safer and set up your way.
1. Sign in with a Microsoft account, and write down the recovery details
Windows 11 asks for a Microsoft account during setup. Use one, because it is what recovers the computer if you forget the password, and it is what holds the BitLocker recovery key. Then go to account.microsoft.com, add a phone number and a second email address for recovery, and save the account details in your password manager.
2. Let Windows Update finish, and restart until it stops asking
Open Settings, then Windows Update, and choose Check for updates. Install everything, restart, and check again. Repeat until there is nothing left. This can take an hour on a computer that has sat in a warehouse for months. Doing it first means the rest of the setup happens on an up-to-date system.
3. Remove the software you did not ask for
Most new computers come with a trial of an antivirus product, a trial of Office, and a handful of games and apps the manufacturer was paid to include. Open Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps, and uninstall what you do not want.
The antivirus trial is the important one. It will nag you to pay after thirty days, and while it is installed it turns off Windows Security, which is built in and already good. Remove the trial, and Windows Security takes over on its own.
Leave alone anything from the manufacturer that mentions drivers, audio, graphics or support, since some of it is needed.
4. Turn on the protection that is not on by default
- Backup. Nothing on the computer is backed up until you set it up. Our simple backup plan takes twenty minutes to put in place.
- Ransomware protection. In Windows Security, under Virus and threat protection, turn on Controlled folder access. It stops unknown programs from changing your documents and photos.
- Find My Device. In Settings, under Privacy and security, turn it on for a laptop.
- Device encryption. On most new laptops it is already on. Confirm in Settings under Privacy and security, and save the recovery key when it offers.
5. Move your files and set up your programs
If this replaces an older computer, our guide to moving to a new computer covers the files, the email and the programs. Install the programs you actually use from their makers' own websites, not from a search result, which is where fake installers live.
6. Set up the browser
Sign in to the browser so bookmarks and saved passwords come across, or better, install your password manager's extension and let it fill passwords instead of the browser. Set the search engine and home page to what you want. Decline every toolbar and extension the setup offers you.
7. Adjust the settings that annoy you later
- Notifications. Settings, System, Notifications: turn off tips and suggestions.
- Start menu. Settings, Personalization, Start: turn off recommendations if you do not want them.
- Power. Settings, System, Power: choose when the screen turns off and the computer sleeps. On a laptop, set what closing the lid does.
- Privacy. Settings, Privacy and security, General: turn off advertising ID and the suggested content options.
8. Make the recovery drive
Once everything is set up, plug in an 16 GB or larger USB flash drive, search the Start menu for Create a recovery drive, and follow the prompts. If the computer ever refuses to start, this drive gets it going again. Label it and keep it in a drawer.
The old computer
Do not wipe or give away the old computer until the new one has been in use for a couple of weeks and you are sure everything came across. Then our guide to what to do with an old computer explains how to wipe it properly.
If you would rather not
Setting up a computer is something we do every week. We remove what should not be there, put the protection in place, move everything over from the old machine and hand it back ready to use. Ask about a new computer setup if you would rather spend the hour on something else.