Microsoft released its latest operating system, Windows 10, on July 29, 2015, and existing Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers had the option to upgrade for free within the first year. Although Windows 10 has many new features, not all customers like the new OS — many of them actually want to downgrade.
Microsoft offers customers 30 days from the day of upgrade to Windows 10 to roll back to their previous version of Windows, provided they upgraded to the latest OS before July 29, 2016. If they upgraded after that date, they will only have 10 days to roll back.
Microsoft suggests that data will not be deleted once the software has been downgraded. However, it is always a good idea to make a backup of all important data on the system.
Here is how to roll back from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.
Step 1: Click on "Setting" from the Start Menu on Windows 10.
Step 2: Click on "Update & Security" in the settings.
Step 3: Click on "Recovery" then under "Go Back to Windows 7/8.1" click "Get Started."
Step 4: A menu will appear with a number of reasons why a user wants to leave Windows 10. Select your reason then click on "Next."
A warning and confirmation will pop up after clicking "Next" then the rollback process will start. Depending on the speed of one's system, the rollback can take between a few minutes up to 30 minutes. Rolling back from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 can take more time in comparison to rolling back from Windows 10 to Windows 7.
Once the rollback is finished, the system will reboot in the previous version of Windows on the system.
It is worth noting that the rollback process may delete some apps and change settings. Customers will have to re-install apps and make changes to the settings to suit their personal preference.
Customers should note that if they used a password to login to the previous version of Windows before installing Windows 10, then they will have to remember the password as it will be required to login after the rollback process.
The reason users can roll back to their previous version of operating system is because Windows 10 stores the complete Windows installation of the previous version on the system. Customers who are happy with Windows 10 and who do not want to roll back to the previous Windows version can free up some space by removing these files.
Here is how to remove these files and free up precious space.
Step 1: Search for "Disk Cleanup" from the search field and run it.
Step 2: When the scanning is finished, click "Clean up system files."
Step 3: In the "Files to Delete" section, locate "Previous Windows installation(s)" and select the box and click OK. Answer the confirmation message then the cleanup process will start freeing up memory from the system.
Once these files have been removed, customers will not be able to roll back to the old version of Windows if they want to.
