If your previous OS setup contained something important, you can restore files from the Windows.old folder in Windows 10. This post will show you how to do it manually.
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If you choose to install Windows 10 on the same drive where an existing installation is already present or do a build upgrade without doing a clean install, the setup program will create a folder named Windows.old in the root of the drive. This folder will contain a full backup of a previous Windows 10 installation, or Windows 8 or Windows 7 is you had it installed, including the boot manager and installed apps. This is very handy, as it allows you to access the files previously available on your device. It also allows you to uninstall the newly installed Windows version and return to the previously installed release if something goes wrong.
Note: If you are upgrading Windows 10 and choose to "Keep nothing", personal files of users from their profile folders will be saved to the Windows.old folder. Later, they will be automatically deleted in 10 days after the date you upgraded by default. Also, you can change the number of days to increase or reduce the roll-back period.
Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10
- Open File Explorer. You can press the Win + E shortcut keys to open it faster.
- Browse to and open the
C:\Windows.oldfolder if it is available on your system drive.
- Open the folder under the Windows.old location that contains the files you want to retrieve back.
- Copy and paste your files inside the Windows.old folder to any other folder that is not located inside the Windows.old directory, so they won't be deleted.
You are done.
Note:
Note: The Windows.old folder is critical to have the ability to uninstall the current Windows version and restore its previous build or release. If you remove system files from the Windows.old folder, or other software components, the rollback process will fail for you. If you already deleted the Windows.old folder, then the only way to restore your previous OS is to clean install of the previous build/version. So be careful when working with the Windows.old folder.
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