Like it or not, Windows 11 is here to stay. If you want to continue using Microsoft’s operating system, you’re going to be forced to embrace it sooner or later. Starting Oct. 14, 2025, Microsoft will stop free software and security updates for Windows 10, and while you have the option to pay for updates, it’s probably better and cheaper to just upgrade to Windows 11. But if you are among those who recently updated to Windows 11 and are facing significant issues, you can still roll back to Windows 10.
Back up your PC first
I always recommend backing up your data to avoid losing important information during updates, or in this case, a downgrade or a rollback to an older version. Lifehacker has covered several methods for backing up your Windows PC here, but the best way is to just copy everything you want to save over to an external hard drive. You will still have to reconfigure a fair few things and log into your favorite apps all over again, but it’s much better than having to scramble to restore lost data.
How to go back to Windows 10 from Windows 11’s settings menu
This should be your first option when returning to Windows 10, but it only appears for the first 10 days after you upgrade to Windows 11. If it’s been longer, or if you updated to Windows 11 via a clean install, then you won’t be able to use this method. This is the easiest way to go back to Windows 10:
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Go to Settings > System > Recovery.
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Scroll to Recovery Options > Previous Version of Windows, and select Go back if it’s available. If it’s not, skip down to the other methods listed below.
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You’ll be asked to provide a reason for uninstalling Windows 11, and then asked if you want to check for updates instead of uninstalling Windows 11. Click No, thanks to continue with the rollback.
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Follow the remaining on-screen prompts, then select Go back to earlier build to finally start the process.
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Let the rollback process complete. This may take a while, but once it’s done, you’ll be safely back on Windows 10 with your files intact.
How to uninstall Windows 11 and reinstall Windows 10
Outside of the above method, reinstalling Windows 10 requires some form of physical installation media. For most people, this means creating their own installation media with a USB drive. You’ll need to download the Windows 10 installation media creation tool (available here) and put it on a a blank disc or a USB thumb drive with at least 8GB of space. Run the program, then follow the on-screen instructions to create your installation media and run the Windows 10 installation process. This will take a while, and you will have to ensure that your PC boots off the USB stick, which you can do by going into your computer’s BIOS settings and changing the boot order. It may sound a bit intimidating, but if you look up the steps involved for your computer (the steps vary depending on the components in your PC), you will find that it’s a simple process. After the installation is done, you’ll also have to install Windows updates, reinstall your apps, and restore your backup files, so set aside a solid chunk of time before you update.
The other alternative is to directly download the Windows 10 ISO file and create a bootable USB disk with Rufus, an excellent free tool. If you go to Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page from your PC, you will only see an option to download the Windows Media Creation tool. If you’d rather download the Windows 10 ISO directly, you can either open this page from a non-Windows computer, or make your browser pretend that it’s a non-Windows computer. On Chrome, Chromium-based browsers, or Firefox on your PC, open the Windows 10 download page and then press Ctrl-Shift-I, followed by Ctrl-Shift-M. At the top of the page and below the address bar, you’ll see a button called Responsive. Click this, select any device from the list, and reload the page. Hit Esc and close all the developer toolbars and console windows active in the tab. You will now see the good old Windows 10 ISO download screen. Download it, and use Rufus to create a bootable disk. You can use that to proceed with a clean install of Windows 10 on your PC. Good luck!
