How to Create a Hyper-V Checkpoint in Windows 10

Hyper-V checkpoints save a virtual machine state so that you can return to it after testing software, installing an update, or changing the VM configuration.

Windows 10 support note: Windows 10 reached end of normal support on October 14, 2025. Microsoft still documents Hyper-V checkpoints for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Standard vs production checkpoints

Windows 10 Hyper-V supports two checkpoint types:

• Production checkpoint — creates a data-consistent checkpoint using VSS on Windows guests or file-system freeze on supported Linux guests. It does not save the VM’s running memory state. Production checkpoints are the default in current Hyper-V guidance.
• Standard checkpoint — captures the VM and its memory state. It is convenient for lab/test scenarios but is not equivalent to an application-consistent backup.

Create a checkpoint in Hyper-V Manager

1. Open Hyper-V Manager.
2. Select the virtual machine.
3. Right-click the VM and select Checkpoint.
4. Wait for the checkpoint to appear in the Checkpoints section.
5. Rename it if you want a clearer description of what the checkpoint represents.

Hyper-V does not require you to start the VM just to create a checkpoint; whether the VM can be checkpointed depends on its state and configuration.

Choose the checkpoint type

1. Right-click the VM and select Settings.
2. Under Management, select Checkpoints.
3. Choose Production checkpoints, Standard checkpoints, or the production-only/fallback behavior available for that VM.
4. Select Apply > OK.

PowerShell option

Create the configured checkpoint type with:

Checkpoint-VM -Name "VMName"

View checkpoints with:

Get-VMCheckpoint -VMName "VMName"

Official reference

Microsoft Learn: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/checkpoints