Microsoft unveils two new Windows 11 recovery tools: Cloud Rebuild and Point-in-Time Restore

Microsoft’s Ignite developer conference is underway, and the company has used this as a platform to announce new recovery options for Windows 11. This is something which is being pushed not as an evolution of recovery, but a reinvention.

Having already released Quick Machine Recovery a few months ago, Microsoft is now switching focus. With Intune remote recovery via WinRE, the company enables admins to not only see the Intune console when a managed PC has entered recovery, but also perform recovery actions.

This is where the new features sit. Microsoft has two new recovery actions that will soon be available for use in Intune remote recovery via WinRE. They each cater for different scenarios, allowing for a degree of flexibility.

Providing more detail about the two new recovery options, Microsoft says:

• Point-in-time restore, which will rollback a PC to the exact state it was in an earlier point in time. This recovery action helps resolve a wide range of issues, including problems with updates, driver conflicts and configuration errors. Point-in-time restore will be available in preview in the Windows Insider build of Windows 11 this week.
• Cloud rebuild: When a device’s erratic behavior can’t be solved in an easier way, Cloud rebuild offers a clean slate without shipping hardware or visiting a service desk. Through the Intune portal, admins will be able to select the desired Windows release and language, triggering the PC to download installation media and rebuild itself. The process leverages Autopilot for zero-touch provisioning, ensuring MDM enrollment and policy compliance post-rebuild. User data and settings restoration is streamlined via OneDrive and Windows Backup for Organizations. This approach will reduce downtime from hours—or days—to a fraction of that time.

Precise schedules for availability are not yet available, but Microsoft intends to make these actions available some time in the first half of next year.

Microsoft has provided more information about its Windows Resiliency Initiative on the Windows Resiliency Initiative page and in a Technical IT Pro blog.