Software & Apps > Windows How to Uninstall Windows 10 Don’t like Windows 10? You can return to your previous operating system By Joli Ballew Joli Ballew Writer University of Texas Joli Ballew is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and Microsoft MVP, Lynda.com trainer, Microsoft Press author, and college professor. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on November 7, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide What to Know Before you uninstall Windows, make sure to back up any important data you want to transfer to your new Windows installation.With a fresh Windows installation, you can easily revert to your previous OS from Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.Without a fresh Windows installation, boot from Windows Installation Media like a USB drive and reinstall your copy of Windows 10 manually. If you upgraded your computer to Windows 10 and then decide you don’t like it, you can return the PC to its previous operating system. How you remove Windows 10 depends on how much time has elapsed since you switched. If it's within 10 days, a Go Back option makes it easy to revert to Windows 8.1 or even Windows 7. If it's been longer than that, or if the installation was a clean one and not an upgrade, it's a little more complicated. As of January 2020, Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7. We recommend upgrading to Windows 10 to continue receiving security updates and technical support. How to Uninstall Windows 11 Take Appropriate Precautions Before you downgrade to Windows 7 or revert back to Windows 8.1, you need to back up all the personal data you have on your Windows 10 machine. Remember, whether or not that data would or could be restored during the reversion process isn’t important. It's always better to err on the side of caution when performing tasks like these. How to Backup Your Data There are many ways to back up data before you uninstall Windows 10. You can manually copy your files to OneDrive, to an external network drive, or a physical backup device like a USB drive. Once you've reinstalled your older OS, you can copy those files back to your computer. You can also use the Windows 10 backup tool if you like, although be wary about using this as the sole backup option. You might run into compatibility issues with an older OS while trying to restore. In addition, you may want to back up program installation files for the applications you want to continue using. Third-party applications won't be reinstalled during the reversion process. If you downloaded them from the internet, the executable files may be in your Downloads folder. You can always re-download the program files, though. You might have older programs on DVDs too, so look for those before continuing. If any of these programs require a product key, find that as well. Finally, locate your Windows product key. This is the key for Windows 7 or 8.1, not Windows 10. This will be on the original packaging or in an email. It could be on a sticker on the back of your computer. If you can't find it, consider a free product key finder program. How to Revert to a Previous Operating System Within 10 Days of Installation Windows 10 keeps your old operating system on the hard drive for 10 days after installation, so you can revert to Windows 7 or downgrade to Windows 8.1. If you're within that 10-day window, you can revert to that older OS from Settings. To locate the Go Back to Windows option and use it: Open Settings. (It's the cog icon in the Start menu.) Select Update & Security. Select Recovery. Select either Go Back to Windows 7 or Go Back to Windows 8.1, as applicable. Follow the prompts to complete the restoration process. If You Don't See the Go Back Option If you don't see the Go Back option, it may be because the upgrade took place more than 10 days ago, the older files were erased during a Disk Cleanup session, or you performed a clean installation instead of an upgrade. A clean installation erases all of the data on the hard drive, so there's nothing to revert back to. If this is the case, follow the steps in the next section. How to Remove Windows 10 and Reinstall Another OS If the Go Back option isn't available, you have to work a little harder to get your old operating system back. As noted earlier, you should first back up your files and personal folders. Be vigilant here; when you perform these steps, you'll either be returning your computer to factory settings or installing a clean copy of your previous operating system. There won't be any personal data (or third-party programs) on the machine after you finish. You’ll have to put that data back yourself. With your data backed up, decide how you're going to perform the installation of the previous operating system. If you know there's a partition on your computer with a factory image, you can use that. Unfortunately, there might not be any way to know that until you follow the steps outlined here. Otherwise (or if you aren't sure), you need to find your installation DVD or recovery DVD or create a USB drive, that contains the installation files before you start. To create your own installation media, download the disk image for Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and save that to your Windows 10 computer. Then, use the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool to create the media. This is a wizard and guides you through the process. With your data backed up and installation files at hand: Open Settings. Go to Update & Security. Click Recovery. Under the Advanced Startup section, select the Restart Now button. Your PC will reboot and start up from a disc or device (like a USB drive). Select Use a Device. Navigate to the factory partition, the USB drive, or the DVD drive as applicable. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. Here's How to Reinstall Windows 10 — Just Remember to Backup First Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit