Now that Windows 11 is out, many people have installed Windows 11 on a suitable computer. This can be done via Windows update the PC to Windows 11 when the update is offered.
If the Windows 11 update is not offered then you can Still installing Windows 11 on an old PC. If you installed Windows 11 via the normal method via Windows update, so only if your PC is suitable for this, then you have 10 days to go back to Windows 10.
The recovery period if you change your mind is 10 days as standard. If you need more time to test everything and would like to extend the possible recovery period to Windows 10, you can read in this article how to extend the recovery period to 60 days.
Extend Windows 11 to Windows 10 recovery period
To extend the recovery period, open Command Prompt. Click on the magnifying glass in the taskbar. In the search window type: cmd.exe
Right-click on Command Prompt and choose “Run as Administrator”.
In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to display the remaining time you have left to go back from Windows 11 to Windows 10.
DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow
If you see the error message “Error: 1168 Element not found” then the recovery period is over. You can't anymore back from Windows 11 to Windows 10 via this method.
If you are shown the days remaining for the recovery period, you can go back and extend these days to 60 days.
In the Command Prompt type the following command to extend to 60 days.
DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60
You now have 60 days to go back to Windows 10 if you don't like Windows 11.
Read additional tips for Windows 11 here:
- 15 tips for Windows Explorer in Windows 11.
- Change PIN code or password in Windows 11.
- Clean Windows 11 registry? This is how!
- 8 tips to make Windows 11 faster.
- Windows 10 taskbar in Windows 11.
- Customize taskbar in Windows 11.
I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!
Dear,
I was introduced to your PC Tips for the first time yesterday.
In advance, thanks for such a site. It's a credit to you!
Actually, by mistake, I downloaded Windows 5 on November 11.
Thanks to your help, I was able to extend the period from 10 days to 60 days just in time. Thanks for that.
Your explanation on the website was clear and worked perfectly.
And…yeah, I'm no expert and I'm quite old, but I'd rather maybe go back to Windows 10. In the meantime, my Windows 11 has also had updates.
My question: can I do that, in my situation, without having additional problems?
I have read it here on the website under the term: “Restore Windows 11 to Windows 10”, but I think that is for the period of 10 days, but is that possible, in my case now even after the 60-day extension ?
Thanks for a reply and…your website is really a help.
With best regards
Achilles
Hello, thanks for the kind explanation! Yes, that is certainly possible, you can also return to Windows 60 within 10 days without any problems. If you still have doubts, make a backup of personal files anyway. You can also make a system backup:
https://www.pc-tips.info/tips/windows-tips/windows-11-back-up-maken-met-macrium-reflect/
As long as the option says that you can go back, as described in the article “Restore Windows 11 to Windows 10”, you can go back. I don't recommend it to be honest. I understand that it takes some getting used to, but Windows 11 is also much better in terms of security, etc. Hopefully you can get used to it. Good luck!