Most new PCs these days come pre-installed with Windows 11. The hardware is designed to work with Microsoft’s latest operating system, and most models designed for the consumer market don’t offer customizations. choose to install older Windows 10. (PCs made for the enterprise market sometimes offer this option, but prices for these business-grade PCs are often higher.)
If you really don’t like Windows 11, can you buy one of those new PCs and downgrade to Windows 10? Yes, type.
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While you can easily upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, preserving installed apps, settings, and data files, you cannot do the opposite. If you want to “downgrade” from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you’ll have to do a fresh install, which requires backing up and restoring your data files, and reinstalling all your apps. But your Windows 11 license will be enough to activate Windows 10 (and vice versa), which means you still have the option of upgrading to Windows 11 later, after Microsoft (hopefully) has fixed what it’s doing. mind you right now.
If this is a new PC with Windows 11 pre-installed, you might want to think twice about whether you really want to do this. It is possible that you will experience hardware glitches and incompatibilities when installing Windows 10, and those problems may be more annoying than any problems you have with Windows 11.
On the other hand, if your PC was originally designed to run Windows 10, then your chances of successfully installing Windows 10 will be much better. In any case, you should back up your entire system before proceeding. (For recommendations on third-party software, including some great free options, see “Best Backup Software (2022).”)
The ideal way to do a clean install is to download a Windows 10 recovery image made specifically for your PC model. See this article for instructions on how to find out if this solution is available for your PC: “How to Get a Free Windows (or Linux) Recovery Image for Your OEM PC.”
Also: Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. This is the way
If the recovery image cannot be found, you will have to download and install Windows 10 manually. To create bootable installation media, you’ll need a USB flash drive of at least 8GB. Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool will erase and format the drive, so make sure it doesn’t contain any important files.
Careful aside, here’s how to proceed.
- Plug the USB flash drive into your Windows 11 PC and disconnect any other unnecessary USB devices; then go to https://aka.ms/downloadwindows10.
- Below the “Create Windows 10 installation media” heading, click Download Tool now.
- Run the Media Creation Tool Installer and follow the prompts to create a bootable Windows 10 installation media using your USB flash drive. Leave the drive attached to your Windows 11 PC.
- Go to Settings > System > Recovery and under the Advanced Startup heading, click Restart Now.
- At the Windows 11 recovery menu, select Use device and select your USB drive. When you see the prompt to boot from the USB drive, press the spacebar to start Windows Setup.
- Follow the prompts to install Windows 10. When the step is asked to enter the product key, click I don’t have the product key, then make sure to select the version (Home or Pro) that you are using. . “downgrade” word.
Once the installation is complete, you should boot into Windows 10 and the operating system should activate automatically. You will need to install the latest updates and may need to download some drivers from the PC manufacturer’s website. Once you’ve recovered your data files and reinstalled any apps, you can get back to work.
