The amount of time it takes will vary among users based on your phone and PC hardware. Now just follow the simple onscreen wizard instructions like with the Lumia software.Įach tool will take a good chunk of time to complete the restore, so you might want to put on an episode of House of Cards while it’s doing its thing. Then just click on your phone when it’s found.
Install the software, then connect your phone to your PC, and launch the recovery tool. The Windows Phone Recovery Tool (link below) works similarly to the Lumia tool. I went ahead and took mine out, just to be safe.Īfter clicking Continue, just kick back and wait while the recovery takes place. It will remind you that everything will be erased from your handset, and gives a good suggestion about removing your SD card before restoring. After the phone is recognized, click the Install button and follow the wizard. You should already be backing up your data to the cloud automatically, but to be sure, tap on Apps and Settings, and then ‘ Back up now.’įirst, install the Lumia Software Recovery Tool software (link below.) Launch it, and connect your phone to your PC. So before proceeding, you’ll want to back up your data by going to Settings > Update & Recovery > Backup. Below is a shot from the about page showing it’s running Windows 10 tech preview.Īlso note that if you do this, your personal data will be erased. You can either use the Windows Phone Recovery Tool (which should work with any Windows Phone model) or, if you have a Lumia phone, you can check out the Lumia Software Recovery Tool which is unique to the Lumia models.įor this article, I am using a Lumia 635 that’s running Windows 10 tech preview for phones and will restore it back to Windows 8.1.