How To Rollback Windows 10 To Your Previous Windows Installation

So Windows 10 is the new hotness. You’ve gone and grabbed it at the first opportunity, clicking through the installation process like a person possessed. But once it’s done, you realise you’ve made a horrendous mistake. You don’t like the layout. You hate the pesky Start Menu. Your favourite game doesn’t work.

There’s all manner of reasons why your upgrade to Windows 10 could go wrong. Luckily, there’s a built in panic button should you need. This allows you to revert your Windows 10 installation back to the exact same Windows 7 or Windows 8 install you had before this whole nightmare started.



First things first, you’ve got 30 days from the moment you install Windows 10 to make your decision. After the 30 days is up, you’re stuck with Windows 10. If you want to run Windows 7 or 8, you will need to buy a new license.

Once you’re sure that you want to downgrade your copy of Windows 10, it’s time to backup your files. Because you’re rolling back, you may lose any additional files you have created, so create a copy of them on a thumb stick or hard drive, or alternatively upload the files to cloud storage.

If you then navigate to your Windows 10 installation drive, you should see a folder called Windows.old. This contains all of the old data from your previous Windows installation, so if it’s not there, when you revert back you’re going to be missing some data. If it is there, you’ve got the green light to revert.


Head to the Settings section of Windows 10. In here you’ll notice a section called ‘Update & Security.






Click this and then select ‘Recovery’. You’ll now see a number of recovery options to choose from. You’re going to want to select "Go back to a previous version of Windows."

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The Windows 10 rollback will now begin. A pop-up will appear asking you why you’re rolling back to Windows 7 or Windows 8. You can either provide a reason or opt out entirely, but it’s probably best to voice your concerns if you want Windows 10 to become a better product.

From here it’s a fairly standard procedure to downgrade your Windows 10 operating system. You’ll be given a choice for which files you wish to keep, and whether you wish to transfer certain settings over. Take it slow and read each option carefully, you only get one stab at this.

Once you’ve decided, you’ll then be prompted to rollback. Your PC will reboot and the installation of your previous operating system will begin. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Follow the on-screen prompts, to complete the install. Once done congratulations, you’re back with your old installation of Windows!