Therefore, if you want to go back to Windows 10 from Windows 11 after 10 days of your upgrade without losing data, you need to back up your Windows 10 before upgrading. Then, you can restore your Windows 10 backup to your PC for the downgrade.
Although you can easily upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, preserving installed apps, settings, and data files, you can't do the reverse. If you want to "downgrade" from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you have to do a clean install, which requires backing up and restoring your data files and reinstalling all your apps.
You can go back to Windows 10 by going to Settings > System > Recovery. Then click the "Go back " button beside the Previous version of Windows option. If you are using Windows 11 for more than 10 days. The only option to downgrade to Windows 10 is by reinstalling Windows 10.
Reverting the Windows 11 upgrade
If you upgraded to Windows 11 through normal means (without a clean install) you can go back to Windows 10 fairly easily. For this to work, you'll need to revert the upgrade in the first ten days, and you have to make sure you don't remove your old Windows files after upgrading.
Open the Settings menu and scroll down until you see the Recovery bar on the right. Click Recovery. Once the Recovery menu opens, you will be given a list of System Settings to choose from. Locate and select Go Back under Recovery to revert the operating system back to Windows 10.
The answer is No. As long as you select "Keep personal files and apps" during Windows Setup, you shouldn't lose anything. If you didn't select the option, you may be at the risk of losing data.
Yes, once you have upgraded to Windows 11, you have 10 days to move back to Windows 10 while keeping files and data that you brought along with you. After that 10-day period, you will need to back up your data and do a “clean install” to move back to Windows 10.
If your Windows 11 computer lags and runs slowly, you're probably straining it beyond its capabilities. Several factors contribute to this, including unnecessary background processes, automatic updates, non-essential third-party services, misconfigured notifications, and privacy settings.
Simply put, there just isn't any measurable performance difference between Windows 10 and Windows 11 right now. In fairness, Windows 11 is a little faster, but just not that much to be significant.
You will need a way to copy your applications, settings and files to Windows 11. Windows 11 does not include any built-in “Easy Transfer” functionality. Luckily, there is still a simple way to transfer programs, settings and files from Windows 10 to Windows 11 or from Windows 11 to Windows 11.
It is simple, just install Windows 10. You can either boot the PC up like normal, then run the Windows 10 setup, it will remove everything and install Windows 10. Or, you can create a bootable flash drive with the Windows 10 installer, boot to that, and wipe the PC and install that way.
Not only is Windows 11 considered faster and snappier than Windows 10, it also comes with many new features improving performance, user-friendliness, device compatibility (runs Android apps), and even gaming. It does come with some interface changes which might take some getting used to and also requires a recent CPU.
To wipe your drive in Windows 10, go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery, and then click the Get Started button. When prompted, choose the option for Remove everything. You should then choose the Local reinstall option to reinstall Windows from your computer.
Windows 10 Home and Pro follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy. Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025.
You can only uninstall Windows 11 within 10 days of installation without losing your files. After that, you'll need to do what is known as a "clean install" of Windows 10 or your previous operating system. We'll touch on both methods in this handy guide. Still undecided about whether to uninstall or keep Windows 11?
Though it's been noted that Windows 10 will not bring away or move all your data while installing on your PC. However, this might confuse quite a lot of users who don't want to keep all the system drive data with them for that some old useless files may exist with the new system, taking big space in PC.
Unfortunately, it is sorry to inform you that installing Windows 10 will erase all the files/folders on C: drive and it will re-install fresh files and folders of Windows 10. So please make sure that you have backed up all the personal data and files that you wish to save before installing Windows 10 from USB.
How long should System Restore take Windows 10? Usually, it takes 20-45 minutes not a few hours to run a system restore.
In the Control Panel search box, type recovery. Select Recovery > Open System Restore. In the Restore system files and setting box, select Next. Select the restore point that you want to use in the list of results, and then select Scan for affected programs.
Windows 11 provides an option to wipe an entire drive or only the free space. It completely wipes the data by overwriting it with zeroes to ensure it cannot be recovered by any means. If you want to erase only selective files or folders, there is no option available on Windows 11.
If you have a bootable USB drive or an ISO image, you can use it to perform an in-place upgrade. It allows you to reinstall the OS as an upgrade without deleting your data and apps. If you don't have a bootable drive, be sure to check out our guide on how to create a Windows 11 bootable USB flash drive.