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How to Roll Back Drivers on Windows 11

Some new drivers may be flawed or bugged so the old driver is better

5 min. read

Updated onJuly 12, 2024

updated onJuly 12, 2024

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Key notes

Some users may seek to roll back driver updates to resolve issues arising after recent device driver updates. Rolling back a device’s driver will restore the previous one that the new one replaced.

There’s more than one way you canroll back a Windows 11 update. Below are four methods for reverting driver updates on Windows 11 PCs.

What is a device driver?

A driver is software that facilitates communication between Windows 11 (or other OS) and its associated hardware device. They’re kind of like language translators between hardware and computer platforms.

Companies frequently release new driver versions for their hardware. More essential system drivers will often be updated automatically with Windows updates.

How can I roll back driver updates in Windows 11?

1. Select the Roll Back Driver option

1.Right-click the button for opening theStartmenu and selectDevice Manager.

Double-click whatever hardware category includes the device for which you want to roll back a driver.

3.Right-click a device for which to roll back the driver and selectProperties.

Select the window’sDrivertab.

5.Then click theRoll Back Driverbutton.

6.Select a reason for rolling back the driver.

PressYesto restore the previous driver.

8.ClickStartandPoweron the menu. Then select theRestartoption.

You can easily roll back recent drivers on your Windows 11 PC via Device Manager. This built-in tool on your computer allows you to manually choose which drivers you want to roll back from your list of available devices.

2. Reinstall old driver packs

When you’ve uninstalled a device driver, you can manually reinstall an older one to roll back to. Many device manufacturer websites will include old drivers as well as the latest ones.

For example, you can download old drivers for NVIDIA GPUs from theAdvanced Driver Search page. Select your GPU model,Allon theRecommendedmenu, and clickSearchto view a list of downloadable drivers.

When you’ve downloaded the previous driver version, open the folder that contains the driver package in Explorer. Double-click its setup package to install the driver.

You can also uninstall some drivers via Programs and Features or withthird-party uninstallers.

3. Roll back driver updates with System Restore

4. Back up and restore drivers

Some third-partydriver updater toolsalso incorporate backup features for drivers. For example,Outbyte Driver Updaterenables you to back up drivers with compressed ZIP archives.

Is there a way I can disable automatic driver updates?

You can disableautomatic driver updatesvia theControl Panel. Press your keyboard’sWindowskey +S. Type change device in the text box and selectChange deviceinstallation settings.

ADevice installationwindow will then open. Select theNooption on that window. Press theSave Changesbutton to apply.

Many readers asked us: Why can’t I roll back my driver? Well, theRoll Back Driveroption won’t be available when your PC hasn’t, or no longer, retained a previous driver version for a device.

However, you can still manually reinstall a previous driver version, as outlined for method two.

You canroll back to previous driversin Windows 11 with any of the above methods. The first method is the fastest, but that option isn’t always available.

If you’re not using the latest version, we also have a guide on how toroll back the driver on Windows 7, so you might want to check it out.

Try the second, third, or fourth methods when you can’t select to roll back a driver. You’ll need to have enabled System Restore and backed up all drivers for the third and fourth methods to be valid.

How to Roll Back Drivers on Windows 11#

What is a device driver?#

How can I roll back driver updates in Windows 11?#

1. Select the Roll Back Driver option#

2. Reinstall old driver packs#

3. Roll back driver updates with System Restore#

4. Back up and restore drivers#

Is there a way I can disable automatic driver updates?#