How to downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 or 7

Microsoft offers a built-in feature using which you can downgrade the new Windows 10 version to the older 8.1 or 7 and restore it. The feature makes the downgrade a rather trouble-free process.

You get a month's time to revert to Windows 7 or 8.1 after installing Windows 10. But before you go ahead with the process, ensure that you have created a backup of all data on your PC. Switching to an operating system is risky, as there is a good chance of losing data during the process.

It is recommended that you use external hard drives, thumb drives, or online cloud storage such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or, Tresorit to save data. Once that is done, you are ready to proceed with the rest of the process.

PCAdvisor claims the downgrade is just a matter of 10 minutes. The only hitch was to change the shortcut to Windows Explorer in the taskbar, which had stopped working. Nevertheless, there is a fix available: right-click on the icon, unpin it from the taskbar and then search for Windows Explorer in the Start menu. Drag it to the taskbar and you should find everything working fine as earlier.

If you are confident enough, check out the following downgrade method.

How to downgrade from Windows 10 via update and security settings

If you have installed Windows 10 on a Windows PC, it has the old Windows version restored in a folder called 'Windows.old'. Although keeping the older version along with the new one occupies a lot of space, you have the option to restore the version through Windows 10.

Step-1: Open Windows Start menu, by clicking on the icon in the bottom left corner of the screen

Step-2: Select Settings from the menu

Step-3: You should get an option- Update & Security, click it

Step-4: On the next page, you will be presented with a list of options in the left, click Recovery

Step-5: You will now get the main pane with a variety of option. Click Go back to Windows 7/8.1 (whichever version you want).

Step-6: Then click Get Started

Note that if you are using a laptop, you need to connect it to a power source.

Step-7: You will now be presented with a blue screen with options asking why you want to downgrade. Choose as desired and then click Next

Step-8: Before the downgrade process starts, Windows provides you with a couple of options to cancel it. It also reminds you of the password you had on the previous version, which you need once the process is completed

Step-9: To proceed further, click Next

Your device will now revert to the older Windows version.

Source: PCAdvisor