Downgrade Windows 11 to Windows 10

If you have purchased or received a newer computer with Windows 11 pre-installed but prefer Windows 10, this article cover how to downgrade Windows 11 to Windows 10.

If you have recently updated your PC to Windows 11 and wish to roll back to Windows 10 you have 10 days to do so. If you’re within that period you can follow my instructions on rolling back the Windows 11 update.

 

 

Downgrade to Windows 10

Unfortunately, downgrading Windows 11 to Windows 10 will require a full reinstallation of Windows 10, restoration of any personal files and reinstallation of any needed programs.

The good news is that you’ll finally be able to get rid of all that extra junk software that came pre-installed on your PC.

WARNING! This requires that you have a full, working, backup of all your data first! This is because we are basically overwriting everything on your drive with a clean installation of Windows 10. Do Not Trust the “Save Your Data” feature when using the Reset this PC or present downgrade solution provided herein. I’ve had it not work in the past (luckily I had a full backup).

Begin the downgrade of Windows 11 to Windows 10 by visiting Microsoft’s Download Windows 10 page. Under the “Create Windows 10 installation media” section, click the “Download tool now” button which will download the MediaCreationTool.

Open and run the MediaCreationTool, select “Yes” when prompted with the “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?” pop-up. Next, click on “Accept” to agree to the Terms and Conditions (but only if you agree of course, but who reads those things anyway). Of course, the other option is to install Windows 10 from a bootable USB drive. This is preferable if you want to reinstall Windows 10 on multiple devices, as it will only need to be downloaded once.

The “Getting a few things ready” window will show for a few moments after which you can select “Upgrade this PC now” and click “Next“. This will begin downloading the latest version of Windows 10 in the background. Once completed, click on “Next” then “Accept” on the following window.

From the “Choose what to keep” window, make sure you select “Nothing“, then “Next” once again. Again, ensure that you have a full and current backup of your data and program installation files. You should now be at the “Ready to install” window. Click the “Install” button to begin the process, but be warned: there is no going back from here!

Once this process has completed, you’ll need to complete the initial PC setup process as if you’re using your PC for the first time. After that, restore your data from your working backup and reinstall any programs. Congratulations, you should now have successfully downgraded from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

 

Windows 11 Update Roll Back

If you upgraded Windows 10 to Windows 11 via Windows Update you have 10 days to roll back this update. Otherwise, you will have to follow the above process for downgrading to Windows 10.

To roll back the Windows 11 update, begin by accessing the Windows 11 Settings app (press the Windows+i keys to open it), then click “System” followed by “Recovery“.

Next, locate the Recovery Options section. Under this section you should see a “Go back” button (if available). Click the Go back button to initiate the downgrade back to Windows 10.

 

Conclusion

As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions on my article on downgrading from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

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Let me know if you found any errors within my article or if I may further assist you by answering any additional questions you may have.