windows 11 to windows 10

[meerlooo87]

I just wondering if i downgrade from windows 11 to windows 10 which is the original operating system for my laptop, will i lose the windows license if i clean install windows 10.

[WAWood]

First of all, there is no downgrade path from Win11 to Win10, so there is no way to save anything.

Second, unless you use media that comes from HP, you will be installing using a retail license, and that will not take the OEM key embedded in the firmware of the PC because it needs the OEM version from HP.

If your PC is a 2016 model or newer, you should see if you can make a bootable USB recovery drive using the HP cloud recovery tool on a working PC.

The recovery drive can then be used to install Windows and the HP drivers and utilities that originally came with your PC.

You will need a working PC and a 32GB USB stick to hold the recovery files. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtXOU40vxk

You use the Microsoft Store to download the actual tool:

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mtks9pr7r3n?rtc=1&hl=en-us&gl=us

If you use a different PC to run the tool, you will have to provide your PC's product number. Here is an HP link for finding that information:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/ish_2039298-1862169-16

Here's a video from HP Support about using the Cloud Recovery Tool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7AwuKNJKS4

[Paul_Tikkanen]

 @meerlooo87 

If your PC came with W11, the cloud recovery tool will only reinstall W11, so using that software would not help you install W10.

You won't have any problem at all with the product key if you use the W10 media creation tool to create installation media.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Folks on this forum do that all the time.

The problems you may face are these:

Unless you have a HP business class desktop, most likely there will be no HP W10 driver support for your specific model PC, which means you have to know where you can find the drivers you may need for any devices that need them.

The other issue is if your PC has an Intel 11th generation or newer processor you have to install the Intel storage controller drivers so that Windows can find the drive during the installation process.