Lenovo’s enhanced factory reset on selected AI PCs can wipe local NPU-related keys for resale and repair handoffs.
Lenovo added an AI PC reset path that can burn local keys, not only delete Windows apps. When a laptop leaves your hands for good—sale, return, depot repair—that is the path you want. A casual reset that leaves on-device credentials behind is how next owners inherit surprises.
Two resets, two jobs
Enhanced reset with key wipe is for handoff. Standard reset remains for “I want a clean Windows without nuclear options.” Lenovo’s distinction matters because AI PCs introduced more local secret material than a classic ultrabook shopping list admitted.
Support is model-specific. Confirm your device lists the enhanced path in Lenovo’s docs before you promise a buyer the keys are gone. Then run it yourself and keep the on-screen confirmation.
Before you sell
Back up files, sign out of Microsoft accounts, remove third-party password vaults, then run the enhanced reset if available. Photograph or note the completion screen. If you are sending a machine for repair, ask whether the depot process includes the same wipe.
Hardware security is a story about endings as much as logins. Lenovo finally documented an ending that matches AI PC reality. Use it when the story leaves your desk.
IT depot checklist
Print a one-page depot script: verify model, run enhanced reset, confirm key wipe message, asset-tag the device, reseal. Train technicians that “Windows looked reset” is not enough on AI PC SKUs. Spot-audit one machine a week by attempting to use a prior enrolled feature that should now fail. Lenovo documented the capability. Process makes it real in a warehouse that ships hundreds of laptops.
Employee exit checklist
HR and IT should add “AI PC enhanced reset” beside “recover badge” and “revoke SaaS.” Employees who bought through company programs sometimes keep devices; the wipe still matters before personal reuse if corporate keys were enrolled. Write the exception path for machines that fail the enhanced reset and must be disk-destroyed instead. Lenovo’s feature is one tool. Exit process is the system that uses it.