If you buy a new PC today, there’s a good chance it comes preinstalled with Windows 11. Support for Windows 10 is ending. And Microsoft’s OEM partners build machines designed to run Microsoft’s latest operating system. Concretely, on the market, you will not find PCs running Windows 10. Unless they are promotional models built two or three years ago. And even in the business market, you will only find PCs running Windows 11.
So if you really don’t like Windows 11, can you buy a new PC and downgrade it to Windows 10? Yes, but not just anyhow.
Although you can easily upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, preserving installed programs, settings, and data files, you cannot do the reverse.
Perform a clean installation
If you want to “downgrade” from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you need to do a clean install. Which requires backing up and restoring your data files and reinstalling all your programs. But your license for Windows 11 will be enough to activate Windows 10 (and vice versa). Which means you will always have the option to upgrade to Windows 11 later. Later ? Yes, once Microsoft has (hopefully) fixed the issues that are bothering you at the moment.
So if your new PC comes with Windows 11 preinstalled, think twice before embarking on this adventure. You may encounter hardware issues and incompatibilities when you install Windows 10.
And these mishaps could be even more annoying than the problems you encountered with Windows 11. And you’ll also lose any support rights you have with the PC manufacturer.
If you can’t find a recovery image, download and install Windows 10 manually
On the other hand, if the computer was originally designed to run Windows 10, your chances of successfully installing Windows 10 are much better. In any case, you should make a complete backup of your system before proceeding further.
The ideal way to perform a clean installation is to download a Windows 10 recovery image specifically designed for your PC model. To find out if this solution is available for your PC, check out this article: “How to get a free Windows (or Linux) recovery image for your PC”
If you can’t find a recovery image, download and install Windows 10 manually. To create bootable installation media, you will need a USB drive with a capacity of at least 8 GB. Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool will erase and format the drive, so make sure it is does not contain important files.
These warnings aside, here’s how to go about upgrading your machine from Windows 11 to Windows 10
- Insert the USB drive into your Windows 11 PC and disconnect any other non-essential USB devices, then go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO. Note that you can perform this task on any PC running Windows.
- After choosing the Windows version and system language, download the OS.
- Run the Media Creation Tool installer and follow the instructions to create bootable Windows 10 installation media using your USB drive. Leave the key connected to your Windows 11 PC.
- Go to Settings > System > Recoverythen restart the machine.
- In the Windows 11 recovery menu, when choosing a device, select your USB drive. When you see the prompt to boot from the USB drive, press the spacebar to begin the Windows installation.
- Follow the prompts to install Windows 10. When you get to the step where you are asked to enter a product key, click I don’t have a product keythen make sure to choose which edition (Home or Pro) you are “downgrading” from.
Once the installation is complete, you should boot into Windows 10 and the operating system should automatically activate. You will need to install the latest updates and perhaps download some drivers from the PC manufacturer’s website. Once you have restored your data files and reinstalled the applications, you can start working.
But be careful, the Microsoft Support service clock is ticking! You will no longer receive security updates for Windows 10 starting October 2025, and after that date you will need to choose a security policy, whether free or not.
Source: “ZDNet.com”
