As more and more people give Windows 11 a try, there’s bound to be a portion of early adopters eager to make the transition back to Windows 10. Considering that Windows 11 is still only part of the Insiders Program and won’t be officially out until early 2022, it’s understandable why you’d want to move back to a more stable OS like Windows 10.
Can I Roll Back to Windows 10 from Windows 11?
Yes, you can – Using the same System Recovery options menu that has been a part of Windows for years now. The trick is that you’ll only be able to roll back to Windows 10 only within the first 10 days of having the upgrade installed.
If you decide to roll back within this 10-day period, you will be able to roll back while keeping all the files and data you originally brought over from Windows 10 (think of it as a grace period)
Note: After the 10 day period, Microsoft will purge the old OS files making it impossible for you to do a hassle-free rollback to Windows 10.
How to Roll Back (Uninstall) Windows 11
Fortunately, Microsoft has made it very easy to make the transition back to Windows 10 if you’re still under the 10-day grace period. If you had enough of Windows 11 and you want to migrate back to the known waters of Windows 10, follow the instructions below to rollback via the Recovery menu:
- Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Inside the text box that just appeared, type ‘
Accessing the Settings menu - Once you’re inside the settings menu, click on System from the vertical menu on the left.
- Next, from the System menu, scroll down through the list of available options and click on Recovery.
Accessing the Recovery menu - Inside the Recovery menu, go under Recovery Options and click on the Go back button to begin the roll-back process.
Rollback to the previous Windows version - Next, complete the quick Microsoft survey when asked to do so and click on No thanks when asked if you want to check for any pending updates to Windows 11.
- Follow the remaining prompts until you finally see the option to click on Go back to earlier build.
Going back to an earlier Windows 10 build - Wait until your system restarts and completes the restoration process. Depending on if your PC configuration has SSD capabilities or not, expect this process to last several minutes.
After this process is complete, your computer will boot directly into the familiar Windows 10 interface. However, in order to prevent Microsoft from installing Windows 11 all over again, you’ll need to navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider program and disable the toggle associated with Stop getting preview builds.
I’m Past the 10 days, Can I still Roll Back to Windows 10?
If you’ve only decided that you want to roll back after the first 10 days have passed, there will be no option to take advantage of the easy Recovery rollback to Windows 10. However, you can still make the transition back to Windows 10 by clean installing Windows 10 (after backing up your data in advance).
If you find yourself in this unfortunate scenario, you should start by backing up your data in advance. After you do this, simply follow the instructions to clean install Windows 10 on your machine.
Note: The license key that you used for Windows 11 will work to activate Windows 10 again once the installation is complete.
