Downgrading to your older Windows is easy with Windows 10 but there is a minor but serious limitation that has been put into place. Like many of us most users are not liking the Windows 10 interface. Luckily, there is an option to revert back to your older Windows 8/8.1 or 7 which Microsoft has built into Windows 10 but the limitation is that it has to be within a month of the upgrade and it will not work with clean installs.
So if you have upgraded to Windows 10 from your existing Windows, the continue reading the guide for steps to address the issue.
Steps to Downgrade Windows 10
1. Click the Start menu button and type settings, this will automatically list the option for settings.
2. Choose the Update & Recovery option from Settings, and then choose Recovery
3. You will now see one of the following options:
- Go back to Windows 7
- Go back to Windows 8
4. Make your selection and click the Get Started button.
5. You will see a survey from Microsoft asking why you want to go back; give an honest feedback 🙂
This method only works; if you’ve been running Windows 10 for less then a month and the Windows 10 has been installed as an upgrade, not as a Clean Install.
The above method works because when you upgrade to Windows 10; windows renames your previous windows installation as Windows.old; so if you have not ran a cleaner or deleted the old installation; then you have a good chance of going back. However, if it has been more then a month then Windows 10 would have automatically deleted the old installation.
