Upgrade to Windows 11? Sorted by What Your PC Says

Windows keeps telling you that Windows 10 has reached the end of support. The machine carries on working exactly as it did yesterday. So you are not sure whether this is urgent or advertising.

I will give you the straight version. It is neither, and which one it is for you depends entirely on one thing your PC can tell you in about a minute.

There are four situations. One of them is free and takes an afternoon, one is a switch somebody left off, one has no free route at all, and one is deciding not to move yet.

Find yours below rather than working down from the top.

What actually ended, and what did not

Documented by Microsoft on its end of support page, in its own words: "Windows 10 has reached the end of support on October 14, 2025."

What stopped was technical support, software updates, and security fixes. What did not stop was the machine.

Microsoft is clear that computers running Windows 10 will still function. Your files are there, your programs run, and nothing was switched off at midnight.

⚠️ What changes is the risk, and it compounds. Without security patches your PC faces, in Microsoft's phrasing, "greater risk for viruses and malware", and that risk grows every month rather than staying still.

⭐ Ours, and marked as ours: treat this as a decision with a deadline you choose, not an emergency. Nothing breaks this week. Something will eventually.

Situation one: it is free and your PC qualifies

The condition Microsoft names is narrow and specific. The no-cost upgrade applies to machines running "Windows 10, version 22H2 and meet the minimum hardware specifications".

Two things there. People only check the second one, so confirm your version first at Settings, System, About.

The hardware floor is a 1 GHz processor with two or more cores on Microsoft's own list of approved CPUs, TPM 2.0, at least 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage.

If you qualify, the upgrade arrives through Settings, Windows Update. It keeps your files and your programs.

If that upgrade then stops on a hex number, the code names the fault and retrying blindly will not clear it.

Back up before you press it anyway. An upgrade that keeps your files is not the same as a backup of them, and the two get confused constantly.

What Windows Backup actually saves is worth ten minutes first, because it covers less than most people assume.

Situation two: TPM is there but switched off

This is the commonest reason a capable machine says it cannot run Windows 11. It is a setting, not a limit.

Microsoft's own reassurance is worth having in front of you: "most PCs shipped in the last 5 years are capable of running Trusted Platform Module version 2.0 (TPM 2.0)."

Check yours in thirty seconds. Hold Windows key + R, type `tpm.msc`, and select OK.

Look for the line saying "TPM is ready to use", then check the Specification Version under TPM Manufacturer Information reads 2.0.

If it says the module is not found, it may simply be off in your firmware. Go to Settings, Update & Security, Recovery, Restart now, then Troubleshoot, Advanced options, UEFI Firmware Settings, Restart.

⛔ The setting is almost never called TPM. Microsoft lists the names you will actually see: Security Device, TPM State, Intel PTT, Intel Platform Trust Technology or AMD fTPM switch, usually under Advanced, Security or Trusted Computing.

That naming is why people conclude their machine does not have it. Look for those five before you believe it.

Situation three: your processor is not on the list

This is the one most pages skate past, and it is the one with no free answer.

TPM is not the only gate. Microsoft publishes fixed lists of approved Intel and AMD processors. A chip that is not on its list is not eligible, however much RAM you have.

An independent adviser answered this on 6 June 2025. The machine was Windows 10 version 22H2, 8 GB of RAM, an AMD A10-5750M, and the answer was: his processor is not on the supported list, there is no free upgrade for that hardware, and the machine will keep working without security updates.

That is a blunt answer. It is also a true one, because no amount of firmware fiddling adds a supported CPU.

⛔ You will find guides that bypass the check. They work, in the sense that Windows 11 installs.

Microsoft does not support the result, and an unsupported install can be refused updates later. That puts you back where you started with extra steps.

Ours, and marked as ours. A CPU off the list leaves you two real choices: pay for another two years of security updates, or buy a machine. Pretending there is a third one costs you the time you spend discovering there is not.

Situation four: you are staying on Windows 10 for now

There is an official way to do that, and it has an end date.

Documented by Microsoft: the consumer Extended Security Updates program "can protect your Windows 10 device till October 12, 2027".

What you get is narrow. Critical and Important security updates only. Microsoft says plainly that it does not include other updates or technical support.

Reported by a volunteer moderator on Microsoft's board in July 2025, answering somebody with a Core 2 Duo and no TPM at all: the consumer ESU route was thirty US dollars for one year.

⚠️ Treat any price you read, including that one, as the figure that person saw on that date. Check what your own machine is offered rather than budgeting from a forum post.

The dates that catch people out afterwards

Two more, because they are the ones nobody expects and they arrive after you have stopped thinking about this.

Support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 also ended on 14 October 2025. The apps keep opening. They are simply no longer supported on that operating system.

But their security updates continue to 10 October 2028. Those two dates are three years apart and are constantly reported as one.

⭐ So Office on Windows 10 is not the thing forcing your hand this year. Windows itself is.

Status: written 22 August 2026 against Microsoft's own end-of-support and TPM pages. The free upgrade needs Windows 10 version 22H2 plus the hardware floor including an approved CPU. Consumer Extended Security Updates run to 12 October 2027, and Microsoft 365 security updates on Windows 10 run to 10 October 2028.

Is Windows 11 still a free upgrade in 2026?

For eligible machines, yes. Microsoft ties the no-cost upgrade to running Windows 10 version 22H2 and meeting the minimum hardware specifications, which include an approved processor and TPM 2.0. Machines that miss the CPU list have no free route at all.

How do I check if my PC has TPM 2.0?

Press Windows key and R together, type tpm.msc and select OK. Look for the words TPM is ready to use, then check that the Specification Version reads 2.0. If nothing is found, it may be switched off in your firmware rather than absent.

What happens if I just stay on Windows 10?

The PC keeps working. It stops getting security updates, which Microsoft says leaves you at greater risk of viruses and malware, and that risk grows month by month. The consumer Extended Security Updates program buys protection until 12 October 2027.

Can I install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC?

There are ways to bypass the check and they do install. Microsoft does not support the result, and an unsupported installation can be denied updates later. If your processor is not on Microsoft's list, the supported choices are extended updates or new hardware.

The Short Version

• Windows 10 support ended 14 October 2025. The machine still works, the security updates stopped.
• The free upgrade needs version 22H2 as well as the hardware. People only check the hardware.
• Run tpm.msc. TPM is often present and simply switched off in firmware.
• The firmware setting is called Security Device, TPM State, Intel PTT or AMD fTPM, never TPM.
• An unapproved processor cannot be fixed by any setting. That is the real wall.
• Extended Security Updates run to 12 October 2027 and cover critical fixes only.
• Microsoft 365 apps lost support in October 2025 but keep security updates to October 2028.

Where to Next

Run tpm.msc now, before you read anything else about this. Thirty seconds, and it moves you from wondering into one of the four situations above.

If the upgrade goes ahead and the machine feels slower afterwards, two numbers explain most of that. If Windows Update itself refuses with a code, find your error code first rather than retrying it.

And if tpm.msc gives you a result you cannot read, paste the exact wording below. I can usually tell from that one line which of the four situations you are in.