Rolling back the Windows system to a previous version
Applicable products：
PC，Desktop
Applicable products：
| Rolling back the Windows system to a previous version |
Scenario 1: Rolling back the Windows system version after a system update
The following uses Windows 11 as an example. If you need to roll back the system after updating it from 21H2 to 22H2, perform the following operations.
- If you need to roll back to Windows 10 after updating your computer from Windows 10 to Windows 11, see Rolling back to Windows 10 after I update my system to Windows 11.
- Rolling back the system version may cause file loss. It is recommended that you back up important files to an external storage device before the rollback.
- You can visit the Microsoft official website to learn more about the recovery options in Windows.
- Press Win+I to open the Settings window. Select (Windows 10: Click Update & Security).
- Select Recovery, and then follow the onscreen instructions to roll back the version.
If the Go back button is grayed out, the possible causes are as follows:
- Cause 1: If it has been over 10 days since you updated the Windows system, the system cannot be rolled back to the previous version.
- Cause 2: After the system is updated, a Windows.old or Windows system update file is automatically backed up in the C drive, which occupies a large space. If the file is automatically deleted by the system (generally after about 10 days) or manually deleted, the system cannot be rolled back to an earlier version.
You can press F10 to restore your computer to its factory settings. Restoring your computer to its factory settings will delete data from the C drive (including desktop files, downloads, and documents) and software installed in the C drive. Please back up data before restoring factory settings.
Scenario 2: Rolling back from Windows Pro to Windows Home
Restoring your computer to its factory settings will delete data from the C drive (including desktop files, downloads, and documents). Please back up data before restoring factory settings.
To restore Windows 10 Home after updating to Windows 10 Pro, use the F10 system restore function.
To learn more:
Rolling back to Windows 10 after I update my system to Windows 11
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