How to: Go back to 'stock' from the Windows 10 Insiders Preview

Published by at

Having updated your Windows Phone to the Insiders Preview of Windows 10, you'll have been having some fun, but it may be that the missing bits (Office) are now starting to bite, or it maybe that you simply want your old, stable version of the OS back. Here's what to do in order to get back into the reservation....

1. Download the Windows Phone Recovery Tool onto a Windows 7, 8 or 10 (Insiders!) PC or laptop.

2. Install and run it.

3. Connect your smartphone running Windows Phone 10 - it should be recognised very quickly - click on its panel.

Reflashing a Windows Phone with stock firmware

4. The available firmware (look at the OS version) will be confirmed - in this case, an obviously older version. Click on 'Reinstall Software'.

Reflashing a Windows Phone with stock firmware

5. Wait while the firmware is downloaded from Microsoft's servers. It's big, usually around 1.5GB, so you may have up to an hour's wait, depending on your connection and the state of the server.

Reflashing a Windows Phone with stock firmware

6. Wait while the phone is automatically restarted in a 'flashing' mode and then the new (or in this case 'old'!) firmware is installed.

Reflashing a Windows Phone with stock firmware

Reflashing a Windows Phone with stock firmware

7. The phone should restart in the usual Windows Phone 8.1 way and you can then either start from scratch or restore a previous 8.1 backup.

Notes:

  • When I refer to '8.1' above, I include 8.1 Update 2 or Update 2 - which you see will depend on your country and model.
  • If you have problems, try hard resetting your phone first - after all, the revert process will wipe it anyway, so there's nothing to lose. You can find exact instructions here.