When the installation is complete, you should boot into Windows 10, and the operating system should activate automatically. When you reach the step where you're asked to enter a product key, click I Don't Have A Product Key and then be certain to choose the edition (Home or Pro) that you're 'downgrading' from.

Follow the prompts to install Windows 10.

When you see the prompt to boot from the USB drive, tap the spacebar to start Windows Setup.

At the Windows 11 recovery menu, choose Use A Device and select your USB drive.

Go to Settings > System > Recovery and, under the Advanced Startup heading, click Restart Now.

Leave the drive attached to your Windows 11 PC.

Run the Media Creation Tool Installer and follow the prompts to create bootable Windows 10 installation media using your USB flash drive.

Under the heading 'Create Windows 10 installation media,' click Download Tool Now.

Insert the USB flash drive in your Windows 11 PC and disconnect any other nonessential USB devices then go to.

Microsoft's Media Creation Tool will erase and format the drive, so make sure it doesn't contain any important files. To create bootable installation media, you'll need a USB flash drive with at least 8GB capacity. If you can't find a recovery image, you'll have to download and install Windows 10 manually. See this article for instructions on how to find out whether this solution is available for your PC: 'How to get a free Windows (or Linux) recovery image for your OEM PC.'Īlso: Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. The ideal way to do a clean install is to download a Windows 10 recovery image made specifically for your PC model. (For recommendations of third-party software, including some excellent free options, see 'Best backup software (2022).') In any case, you should make a complete backup of your system before going any further.

If, on the other hand, the PC was originally designed to run Windows 10, your chances of successfully installing Windows 10 are much better. It's possible you'll encounter glitches and hardware incompatibilities when you install Windows 10, and those problems might be even more annoying than whatever issues you have with Windows 11. If this is a new PC that came with Windows 11 preinstalled, you might want to think twice about whether you really want to do this. Here are ZDNET's top picks for a variety of use cases.

Windows media creation tool win 11