How to uninstall Windows 11
You tried Windows 11. You did not like Windows 11 and you’d like to go back to Windows 10. As far as a license is concerned, if you had a genuine Windows 10 license when upgraded to Windows 11, you can always go back. To downgrade the OS, it depends on how long you’ve been using Windows 11.
Uninstall Windows 11
There are two ways you can uninstall Windows 11: you can roll it back to Windows 10 or you can format the Windows drive and install Windows 10 fresh.
1. Roll back Windows 11 to Windows 10
If you want to roll back to Windows 10, you’re limited by certain conditions;
- You must have installed Windows 11 by upgrading Windows 10 i.e. Windows 11 should NOT have been a clean install.
- You upgraded to Windows 11 10 or fewer days ago.
- You did not delete the Windows.old folder in your Windows drive.
If you meet the above requirements, you can roll back to Windows 10 from Windows 11 by following these steps.
- Open the Settings app with the Win+I keyboard shortcut.
- Go to System.
- Select Recovery.
- Under Recovery options, select Go Back.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to roll back to Windows 10.
Note: If this option is greyed out with the message ‘This option is no longer available on this PC’, you’ve used Windows 11 for more than 10 days, you’ve deleted the Windows.old folder, or you installed Windows 11 fresh.
2. Fresh install Windows 10
If you’re unable to roll back to Windows 10, you’re going to have to fresh install it over Windows 11. Make sure you back up all your important files before you fresh install Windows 10.
- Visit the Microsoft download page for Windows 10.
- Download the Windows 10 media creation tool.
- Run the tool the tool and select the Windows 10 version and language you want to use.
- Connect a USB that is at least 8GB to your system.
- Select the burn to USB option.
- Allow the tool to download and burn Windows 10 to the USB.
- Once the USB is ready, restart the system.
- Boot to your BIOS.
- Set the first boot device to USB.
- Connect the Windows 10 installation USB to your system.
- Restart the system.
- On the installation screen, select the language for the OS.
- Select your Windows drive and format it (this will remove everything on the drive including all Windows 11 files).
- Once the format is complete, follow the on-screen steps to install Windows 10.
Note: Windows 10 can install in 20mins to 2 hours. It depends on your hardware.
Conclusion
Windows 11 doesn’t have any major features that the average user may want to upgrade for but it is a fresh new OS. If you’re buying a new laptop or desktop, buying one with Windows 11 isn’t a bad idea. It is mostly stable. If you’re coming from a Windows 10 system though, the changes in the OS, no matter how small, may not be to your liking.