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Your documents created on Windows 8 / 8.1 will still be present.Īnd your favorites created on Windows 8 / 8.1 in Internet Explorer will still be there too. If Windows 8 / 8.1 was activated before upgrading to Windows 10, it will still be activated. Note that the "Microsoft Edge" shortcut that appeared on the desktop no longer works. Then, you will arrive on your old installation of Windows 8 / 8.1. The usual Windows 8 / 8.1 messages are displayed once during the 1st boot. The "Restoring your previous version of Windows" message appears while restoring this one. Make sure you have saved your new data (documents, images. Skip checking for updates, otherwise you'll stay on Windows 10.Īs specified in this step, anything you have done or created after upgrading to Windows 10 will be lost. Note that this choice doesn't matter to you. Indeed, without this folder, going back to Windows 8 / 8.1 using this option will not be possible.Ĭlick on the "Get started" button and a "Go back to Windows 8" window will appear. If the above option is grayed out, check that the "Windows.old" folder is still present in the "C" partition.

If you are coming from Windows 8.1 then the title will obviously be : Go back to Windows 8.1. In the "Recovery" tab, you will find a "Go back to Windows 8" section (if you had upgraded from Windows 8 to 10). Without this folder, this will no longer be possible and the option will be grayed out in Windows 10 settings. In addition, the "Windows.old" folder must always be present at the root of the "C" partition. Note that this operation is only possible within 10 days after your upgrade to Windows 10. We've shown several ways to get Windows 10 for free or cheap, so review those to see if any will work for you.Īs a last resort, Windows 10 works just fine without activation, aside from restricting personalization options and displaying a watermark in the corner of the screen.If you've upgraded from Windows 8 / 8.1 to Windows 10 recently, but finally changed your mind, well here's how to get back to Windows 8 / 8.1 easily and for free. If you don't have a valid license key on your current computer, you can still use the download tool to install Windows 10 on that device. But if you have it and this fails for some reason, you can enter it to activate Windows 10. You shouldn't need the product key from your current Windows installation. When everything is complete, head to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and it will show that you're activated. To easily upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, use these steps: Open Microsoft website. Run the file you downloaded and accept the license agreement. That will guide you through creating a bootable installer so you can install Windows 10 from a USB drive.Įither way, after it installs, walk through the setup process for Windows 10 and Windows won't ask you for a license key. Head to this Windows 10 download page and click Download Now. If you want to upgrade multiple systems to Windows 10, select Create installation media instead.
