How to roll back my window update

Question

How to roll back my window update

Jay Yeager 5

I need to get a previous version to roll back the version of windows

Emily Du-MSFT 51,846 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2023-03-20T01:34:50.0966667+00:00

I’m checking how the things are going on about this issue. Whether the answer helps you?
Tim Milton 5 Reputation points

2023-10-14T10:57:50.9566667+00:00

this absolutely useless since the update less than 5 minutes ago does appear as something i can recover. For the simple minded the RECOVERY is not highlighted as an option i can use and above it the instructions say your last update was 0ver 10 days ago, when it was less than 5 minutes ago.
Robert Neely 0 Reputation points

2024-01-02T21:37:19.7133333+00:00

here bc dec 2023 update broke my moms laptop wifi. need actual answer
NscNick 15 Reputation points

2024-03-19T14:15:26.46+00:00

Again another dismissive set of information from Microsoft which does NOT conform with what we have on screen. The instructions provided are WRONG. The question is how to roll-back after 10 days. So telling us to go an do what we have done to find that we cannot do so because someone in Microsoft has imposed a 10 day limit and then tell us to use that instruction which doesn't work is UNHELPFULLY DISMISSIVE (to put it politely). It is blatantly obvious that there is a silo mentality at work adn each hand hasn't a clue what the other has done. This has blighted Microsoft for years if not decades and shows no signs of going away. Did no-one in MS actually consider that perhaps problems may not become apparent until later?
William Cole 15 Reputation points

2024-07-02T18:07:13.9366667+00:00

I just upgraded to 22h2 preview which seems to be causing problems. I need to roll it back.

The Go Back option under Restore is "no longer available".

I don't have the Restart Now in Advance Setup option under Recovery.

This is very discouraging. Anyone have any suggestions. Thanks much.
Sad user 0 Reputation points

2024-10-22T04:30:33.52+00:00

I am stuck also, with a forced update that broke my main CAD program. I didn't really realize what had happened, and what broke my program until after the 10 day limit. And even if I did, and realized that was the trigger for my CAD program breaking, permanently disconnecting my computer from the internet would seem to be the only way to get more than a short term reprise from Microsoft's demand that it owns my computer, and gets to break any program it wants to.
angelhi 0 Reputation points

2025-01-02T00:16:44.9433333+00:00
IS SOMEONE FROM MS ACTUALLY HERE? We all on this thread have lost our data. This is serious.

All of the "Go back..." info does not work because the action is unavailable for most of us

Apparently it is a One Drive issue

This last 'Update' (seemingly around 11 2024) has wiped everything from File Explorer "View"; Cannot find anything past a few select folders from recent work.

MS, the questions are simple: A) Where are our files/folders? (B)How do we get them back?
MS, please help. Seriously!

4 answers

Your answer

Emily Du-MSFT 51,846 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2023-03-20T01:34:50.0966667+00:00

I’m checking how the things are going on about this issue. Whether the answer helps you?
Tim Milton 5 Reputation points

2023-10-14T10:57:50.9566667+00:00

this absolutely useless since the update less than 5 minutes ago does appear as something i can recover. For the simple minded the RECOVERY is not highlighted as an option i can use and above it the instructions say your last update was 0ver 10 days ago, when it was less than 5 minutes ago.
Robert Neely 0 Reputation points

2024-01-02T21:37:19.7133333+00:00

here bc dec 2023 update broke my moms laptop wifi. need actual answer
NscNick 15 Reputation points

2024-03-19T14:15:26.46+00:00

Again another dismissive set of information from Microsoft which does NOT conform with what we have on screen. The instructions provided are WRONG. The question is how to roll-back after 10 days. So telling us to go an do what we have done to find that we cannot do so because someone in Microsoft has imposed a 10 day limit and then tell us to use that instruction which doesn't work is UNHELPFULLY DISMISSIVE (to put it politely). It is blatantly obvious that there is a silo mentality at work adn each hand hasn't a clue what the other has done. This has blighted Microsoft for years if not decades and shows no signs of going away. Did no-one in MS actually consider that perhaps problems may not become apparent until later?
William Cole 15 Reputation points

2024-07-02T18:07:13.9366667+00:00

I just upgraded to 22h2 preview which seems to be causing problems. I need to roll it back.

The Go Back option under Restore is "no longer available".

I don't have the Restart Now in Advance Setup option under Recovery.

This is very discouraging. Anyone have any suggestions. Thanks much.
Sad user 0 Reputation points

2024-10-22T04:30:33.52+00:00

I am stuck also, with a forced update that broke my main CAD program. I didn't really realize what had happened, and what broke my program until after the 10 day limit. And even if I did, and realized that was the trigger for my CAD program breaking, permanently disconnecting my computer from the internet would seem to be the only way to get more than a short term reprise from Microsoft's demand that it owns my computer, and gets to break any program it wants to.
angelhi 0 Reputation points

2025-01-02T00:16:44.9433333+00:00

IS SOMEONE FROM MS ACTUALLY HERE? We all on this thread have lost our data. This is serious.

All of the "Go back..." info does not work because the action is unavailable for most of us

Apparently it is a One Drive issue

This last 'Update' (seemingly around 11 2024) has wiped everything from File Explorer "View"; Cannot find anything past a few select folders from recent work.

MS, the questions are simple: A) Where are our files/folders? (B)How do we get them back?
MS, please help. Seriously!

Answer 1

Jordan Millama 1,386

For Windows 10/11:

Press Windows+I to open Settings.
Click Update & security.
Click Recovery on the left-hand side.
Under Go back to the previous version of Windows, click Get started.

You only get a certain amount of time to roll back after upgrading, I believe after 10 days Windows will clear away the backup. The backup can also be deleted when running Disk Cleanup with the Previous Windows installation(s) option selected.

Please accept as an answer if this was helpful.

Ofiice365 Sucks 5 Reputation points

2023-11-25T19:21:51.59+00:00

25Nov2023: Your step 2 says "Click Update & security." No such option exists! My Windows 11 settings list shows 12 options; the last 2 are "Privacy & security" & "Windows Update". No "Update & security"!!
Bobby Rimkis 0 Reputation points

2023-12-08T18:19:54.84+00:00
@Ofiice365 Sucks

Relax and take a deep breath. The steps are the same.

Open the Settings App on your Windows 11 Device.

Navigate to Windows Update.

In the Windows Update Panel, select "Advanced Options"

Under Additional Options, select "Recovery"

This will provide you with the "Go Back" option which will allow you to rollback updates given the time frame or reset your PC.
Michael R 0 Reputation points

2023-12-13T21:27:06.8966667+00:00

On my Windows 11, 'Go Back' is grayed out.
Michael R 0 Reputation points

2023-12-13T21:29:21.1866667+00:00

Just updated this morning. About 5 hours ago.
Shizu Murasame 10 Reputation points

2023-12-15T12:38:18.2133333+00:00

I'm on Windows 10. There is no "Recovery on the left-hand side." Hell, I even tried to manually uninstall updates by going to "View update history," "Uninstall updates" and there isn't even an option for us to delete them.

Windows Explorer is completely dysfunctional with the search function broken.
Slug 0 Reputation points

2023-12-21T03:33:31.5666667+00:00

Ditto - greyed out "recovery"

What's even more frustrating is this is a new PC and I spent 2 weeks getting it set up to the point of decommissioning my old PC yesterday ,,, and then a windows update causes all sorts of issues

|My old PC saw a major breakage, most likely due to an update but that one, while frustrating, was somewhat ignorable

Get your act together Microsoft
Elysia Brenner 5 Reputation points

2024-01-15T22:44:02.07+00:00

This is not what the menu looks like either. There is no option to roll back this update, despite it causing countless things to malfunction on my computer, and no way to stop these "updates" from coming and messing up my machine every time – I've barely gotten Windows 11 to work properly as it is.
Debra Smith 0 Reputation points

2024-01-24T23:53:20.6466667+00:00

It would be great if the answers were either correct and or amended to support different versions. Too often Microsoft sucks at letting us know when updates are causing problems, technology and commercial selective hearing and tunnel vision
Just a Nut 0 Reputation points

2024-04-14T19:59:38.8433333+00:00

This doesnt work with my windows 10. I updated it 30 minutes ago and there isnt a recovery option
Yvonne Harris 0 Reputation points

2024-08-15T20:33:13.6566667+00:00

I keep being told that I can't use this recovery method. My last update was two days ago and it had caused problems with printing in Adobe. Photoshop keeps crashing now when I try to print.
Debra Smith 0 Reputation points

2024-08-15T20:42:04.9+00:00

Microsoft stop caring about our issues years ago!

Answer 2

Kittipod Therdtrakulrat 10

I read the comments here, but didn't really help much. However, I figured out the way to fix this. Go to Windows Update, then click on Advance Options -> Recovery -> Restart Now in Advance Setup. It fixes.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I found where the uninstall updates option got moved to in Windows 10. There is a link there to directly go to the part of the control panel to remove updates within update history.

In the control panel, the URL path reads as "Control Panel > Programs > Programs & Features > Installed Updates" showing where in control panel this is located.

Update History is located in the settings (the gear on the start menu next to the power icon), under the path of "Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View update history > Uninstall updates", with the "Windows Update" being on the left column & the "View update history" in he central section, down the list from "check for updates"

So two ways to navigate to that location. From there, you need to match identifiers between the update you don't want & the installed updates listed in your machine. It's how I undid an accidental update with the experimental stuff that I installed because I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing.

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How to roll back my window update

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