Microsoft Windows

How to Rollback or Uninstall Windows 10 v20H2 (October 2020 Update)

In this article, I will show you how to rollback or uninstall Windows 10 v20H2. Windows 10 Updates are set to download and install automatically, Means whenever a new update or feature update available Windows update start automatically download and install them on your device. If we recently upgraded to windows 10 20H2 (October 2020 Update) But windows update not perform well, getting problems, Apps start misbehaving and you might need to go back to your older version, and wait until the update is a bit less buggy. Yes, it is possible to rollback Windows 10 20H2 update and go back to the previous Windows 10 v2004 during the first ten days since the installation.

How to Uninstall the October 2020 Update

If the older version of Windows is working fine and you can use the OS normally, you can uninstall the update from Settings.

Choose Windows start button and then select settings.

windows start menu

Choose Update & Security

windows settings

Select Recovery. Select Get started button, Under Go back to the previous version of Windows 10.

windows settings recovery

A window will popup, why you are going back to the previous build, Select any preferred answer or Select for another Reason and then click Next to continue.

windows why are you going back

Windows 10 will tell you to check for updates; maybe few new fixes have been released
If you have already installed the latest updates, or have decided to roll back, then click No, thanks to continuing the rollback processed.

windows go back to earlier build

Read the instruction window, when you go back, you will lose the Windows settings changes or the apps you may install after you upgraded to the 20H2 build. And click next to continue.

windows after going back

The next window instructs you need the password you used to signin to your previous version of Windows 10. Click Next to continue.

windows don't get locked out

Rollback Windows, you will get a message Thanks for trying out this build. Select Go back to the earlier build to start the rollback process.

go back to earlier build

Uninstall Windows 10 update, PC restarting.

windows restarting

Restoring your previous version of windows.

restoring your previous version

Successfully uninstall Windows 10 v20H2 updates.

windows 10 login

How to Uninstall Windows 10 October 2020 Update

You Only Have 10 Days!

Windows 10 only gives you ten days to rollback updates like the October 2020 Update. It does this by keeping the OS files from the previous version of Windows 10 around. When you rollback the update 20H2, Windows 10 will go back to whatever your older system was running.

How to Uninstall the Windows Update If Won’t Boot

Windows 10 will automatically show this interface if your computer is experiencing problems booting. Select the power button and then choose restart button while holding down the Shift key on Windows 10’s sign-in screen or on its Start menu.

windows 10 login screen

Choose an option, select Troubleshoot.

choose an option troubleshoot

Select Advanced options.

troubleshoot advanced options

Select Uninstall Updates to remove an update like the October 2020 Update.

advanced options uninstall updates

Rollback or Uninstall Windows 10 v20H2

Choose “Uninstall latest feature update” to uninstall a major update like the October 2020 Update.
If you did not see this option here, Windows no longer has the old operating system files and you cannot uninstall the update.

uninstall latest feature updates

Select a Windows user account.

uninstall latest feature updates

Provide password and then click continue

uninstall latest feature updates user

Select Uninstall feature update

uninstall feature updates

Restoring your previous version of Windows.

restoring your previous version

Successfully uninstall Windows 10 20H2 update.

windows 10 login

What If You Can’t Uninstall the Update?

You only have 10 days to uninstall the update (20H2). If you select to remove the old operating system files with a tool like Windows Disk Cleanup in the first ten days, you have less than that.
Try resetting your computer first, if you choose to keep your personal files, you can keep your files while effectively reinstalling Windows. However, then you need to install all your programs afterward.

Rollback 20H2 through Control Panel

Microsoft has already brought various features (Control Panel) to Windows Settings and is willing to perform a lot of other changes.
Select Windows search bar and then type appwiz.cpl to open control panel.

windows search bar

Windows Programs and Features, select View Installed Updates.

programs and features

On the right pane, select KB number containing 20H2 and then select uninstall.

view installed updates

Then follow the instructions to uninstall Windows 10 v20H2 completely.

For Windows 10 feature upgrades, change the number of rollback days (10-30).

We can run command below to change the Duration of rollback to the previous feature release Default from 10 days to 30 days.
Run the command prompt as with administrator.
Enter command DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow to find the number of rollback days (by default ten days) currently set on your computer.

dism online get-osuninstallwindow

Type command DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:30 to customize and then set the number of rollback days for your PC.

dism online set-osuninstallwindows

Note: Value: 30 constitute the days by which you need to extend the Windows Rollback function. You can set value to any customized number depending on your choice.
Type DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow and then check this time you notice the number of rollback days changed to 30 days as shown.

command prompt

Note: If you manually deleted the old Windows file named windows.old using Disk Cleanup, or it’s more than 30 days since the windows upgrade you may face error. Otherwise, this process will successfully remove the windows 10 20H2 update and rollback to the previous windows 10 version 2004.

Please read this article: Windows 10 Build 20270 (Fe_Release) out for Dev channels.

For more information visit Microsoft

Jamil Parvez

Jamil Pervez works as a Network Administrator, based in Kuwait with a Primary focus on Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Certified MCSE, MCTP, MCITP, CCNP, CCIP, CCVP with 20 years of experience in administering Windows Servers, Exchange, VMWare, Veeam B&R, Veritas BackupExec.

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