When executing a Windows 10/11 update, you may encounter an error message stating "your files, apps, and settings cannot be retained." How can you resolve this issue to ensure the update does not erase everything? MiniTool Solution provides several practical solutions in this article, so let's take a look at them.

Windows 11/Windows 10 Upgrade: Your Files, Apps, and Settings Cannot Be Retained

Generally, in-place upgrades usually preserve personal files and retain settings and customizations. Additionally, applications and data can be maintained on the computer.

However, sometimes when conducting an in-place upgrade of Windows 10 or 11, the Windows Setup installer will display an error message indicating "your files, apps, and settings cannot be retained." The reason provided is:

• You have selected to install Windows using a different language than the one currently in use.
• Your current version of Windows might be installed in an unsupported directory, or you are attempting to install an older version of Windows.
• You are installing an edition of Windows different from the one you are currently using.

Upon receiving this error, the option Keep personal files and apps is grayed out in Windows 11/10. Alternatively, both options – Keep personal files and apps and Keep personal files only – may be gray, leaving you with only the choice of Nothing. This indicates that all data, including files, applications, and settings, will be erased during the update.

This poses a significant problem if you cannot customize the update. Fortunately, you can follow the solutions below to address this issue.

Solutions for Your Files, Apps, and Settings Cannot Be Retained in 21H1, Windows 11, etc.

Uninstall KB4562830

If you cannot retain files, applications, and settings while upgrading from Windows 10 20H2 to 21H1, consider uninstalling KB4562830 to resolve this issue. It has been proven effective.

Step 1: Open Windows 10 Settings and navigate to Update & Security.

Step 2: Under the Windows Update section, click View installed update history and select Uninstall updates.

Step 3: In the Control Panel interface, locate KB4562830, right-click it, and then choose Uninstall.

After completing the uninstallation, perform an in-place upgrade again to check if the issue is resolved.

Check System Language

If your files, applications, and settings cannot be retained due to a language difference, you can try this method.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt (CMD) as an administrator in Windows 11/10.

Step 2: Enter DISM /online /get-intl and press Enter. You can determine your system language. If it is not English, proceed with the following steps.

Step 3: Restart Windows and press Shift to enter Windows Recovery Environment.

Step 4: Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

Step 5: Type DISM /image:C: /set-uilang:en-US and press Enter. Your system language will be set to en-US, allowing you to retain your files during the in-place upgrade.

Change System Locale in Control Panel

To fix the error "your files, apps, and settings cannot be retained" caused by a language issue, you can also try this approach.

Step 1: Access Control Panel through the search box in Windows 10/11. Display items by Category.

Step 2: Click Clock, Language, and Region to continue.

Step 3: Click Region and proceed to Administrative.

Step 4: Click Change system locale and set the current system locale to English (United States).

Step 5: Save the change and restart your PC. Then, attempt the Windows update again to see if the issue is resolved.

Modify Registry Settings

If your files, applications, and settings cannot be retained due to an unsupported directory or the current version of Windows, you can try modifying the registry settings by following these instructions.

Step 1: Open the Registry Editor by pressing Win R, entering regedit, and clicking OK.

Step 2: Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion.

Step 3: Locate ProgramFilesDir, Program FilesDir (x86), ProgramFilesPath, and ProgramW6432Dir. Double-click each one and change the value data to C:\Program Files. Attempt the installation after making all the changes.

These four methods are common solutions to fix the error "your files, apps, and settings cannot be retained" in Windows 10/11. Give them a try to easily resolve the issue.

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