How to Uninstall Windows 10 From Windows 8, 8.1

By: Marian Cularea

▪ August 10, 2018 ▪

3 minute read

windows 10 how to, Windows 10 tips, windows 8.1

Home » Windows » How to Uninstall Windows 10 From Windows 8, 8.1

Have you installed Windows 10 on your Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 operating system? Well, if you saw what you don’t need Windows 10 and you want to uninstall it from your Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 system, then follow the steps listed below for a quick uninstall.

You might have some issues with your Windows 8.1 computer, if you installed Windows 10 or the latest Windows 10 build on your machinea. These issues can appear either from unwanted updates to your system or perhaps some modifications Windows 10 has made to your operating systems registries. So, in only ten minutes of your time, you will have your Windows 10 technical preview OS removed from your system and get back to your work.

How to remove Windows 10 from Windows 8.1, 8

1. Uninstall Windows 10 preview

If you are in the Start screen of your Windows device, left click or tap on the “Shutdown” feature.
Keep the “Shift” button pressed and left click or tap on the “Restart” button.
You will get to a troubleshooting menu after the reboot of the Windows 8, 10 device.
Left click or tap on the “Troubleshoot” feature you are presented in the menu after the Windows device restarted.
Note: Under the “Troubleshoot” feature you should also see a “refresh or reset your PC” text.
After you left clicked or taped on the “Troubleshoot” feature you will need to left click or tap on the
“Uninstall Preview updates” feature.
After you chose the feature above, your Windows operating system will reboot.
When the Windows device starts up, you will be presented with a “Uninstall Preview updates” window.
You will need to write in that screen your Windows account and continue.
After the step above, you will need to write your account password in the next window and continue.
Left click or tap on the “Uninstall” feature in order to uninstall your Windows 10 operating system.
Follow the instructions on the screen to finish the uninstall process.
Note: You can choose to “Cancel” and in that case you will exit the uninstall feature of Windows 10 operating system.
After the uninstall is completed you will need to reboot your Windows 8 device to completely finish the uninstall process of Windows 10.

RELATED: How to remove the Uninstall option on boot in Windows 10

2. Uninstall Windows from virtual software

If perhaps you installed your new Windows 10 operating system on a virtual software inside Windows 8, 8.1, then you won’t need to follow the steps above because they will not affect your Windows operating system.

The only step you need to do is to take it out from the virtual software you are using by uninstalling it directly from inside the software.

3. Use a restore point

Perhaps the quickest an safest method to go back to a previous OS version is to use System Restore. This solution allows you to restore the full OS version that was installed on your PC before you pressed the Update button. Here are the steps to follow:

Open Control Panel > Under System and Security, you should find the option Back up and Restore
Select your backup point and restore it

If you haven’t created a restore point yet, the guides listed below will show you how you can do that:

The methods listed above are the easiest methods you can use in order to uninstall your Windows 10 operating system and continue running Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 on your device. If you have any additional questions regarding this article, let us know in the comments below and we will help you as soon as possible.

For more information on how to uninstall other Windows 10 version, you can check out the guides below:

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2014 and has been since updated for freshness, and accuracy.