Windows 10 is no longer supported: your options, in plain English

On 14 October 2025, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 10. If your computer runs it, nothing dramatic happened that day. It still starts, your files are still there and your programs still open.

What changed is what happens next, and you have more choices, and more time, than you might think. This guide covers what end of support means, which updates you can still get and until when, whether your PC can move to Windows 11, and the real options if it cannot. Every date and requirement below comes from the software maker’s own pages, as they stood on 3 November 2026.

What “end of support” actually means

Microsoft’s end-of-support page is plain about it. Since 14 October 2025, Microsoft has stopped providing three things for Windows 10: technical support, software updates, and security updates or fixes. It is just as plain that the software “will continue to function”.

The catch is security. When a flaw is found in Windows, Microsoft normally closes it with an update. On a Windows 10 PC that gets no security updates, a flaw found since October 2025 stays open, and Microsoft says such a PC is “at a greater risk for viruses and malware”.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre calls applying security updates “one of the most important (and quickest) things you can do to keep yourself safe online” (NCSC). So the real question is not whether the computer still works. It is how you keep it safe, and for how long.

The extra time: Extended Security Updates

Microsoft runs a programme for home users called Extended Security Updates, or ESU. It delivers the critical and important security updates for Windows 10 and nothing else: no new features, no other fixes and no technical support. It is for Windows 10 version 22H2, the final version.

When support ended, Microsoft offered home users one year of ESU, as its Defender team wrote at the time. It has since extended it. Microsoft’s UK page now says you can enrol until the programme ends on 12 October 2027, and if your PC is already enrolled, its cover carries on to that date with nothing for you to do.

How to enrol in the UK

Go to Settings, then Update & Security, then Windows Update. If your PC meets the requirements, you will see a link to enrol. The PC needs Windows 10 version 22H2 with the latest updates installed, and you sign in with a Microsoft account that is an administrator on the PC, not a child account.

Microsoft’s UK page lists three ways to join:

• At no additional cost, if you sync your PC settings with Windows Backup.
• By redeeming 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points.
• With a one-time purchase of $30 USD or the local currency equivalent, plus applicable tax.

One enrolment covers up to 10 PCs on the same Microsoft account, and the Windows Update screen shows whether a PC is enrolled.

Why some articles say something different

Microsoft treats the European Economic Area differently. On its page for Ireland, for example, the no-cost route is simply staying signed in to the PC with your Microsoft account. Stop signing in and the updates are discontinued after up to 60 days, and you have to enrol again.

The UK is not in the EEA, which is the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (GOV.UK). So the three UK routes above are the ones that apply here.

One more limit: the consumer programme is for home PCs. Microsoft does not offer it on a PC joined to a work domain or enrolled in an organisation’s device management, and points businesses to a separate programme.

What still gets updates on Windows 10

Some Microsoft software keeps getting its own updates on Windows 10, with or without ESU:

• Microsoft 365 apps, such as Word, get security updates until 10 October 2028. New features stop at version 2608 (Microsoft Learn).
• The OneDrive desktop app keeps updating on Windows 10 version 22H2 until 10 October 2028, according to the same page.
• Microsoft Defender Antivirus gets its security intelligence updates, the information it uses to recognise threats, through October 2028 (Microsoft).
• Microsoft Edge keeps updating on Windows 10 version 22H2 until at least October 2028, and ESU is not needed for that (Microsoft Learn).

Two honest notes. First, these protect the apps, not Windows itself. Microsoft says Windows 10 devices “will be more vulnerable, even with ongoing security intelligence updates”. Only ESU fixes flaws in Windows 10 itself.

Second, if you bought Office outright rather than as a subscription, support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 ended in October 2025 on every operating system, and Office 2021 followed in October 2026 (Microsoft).

Can your PC run Windows 11?

The quickest answer comes from Microsoft’s PC Health Check app. Search for it from the taskbar, or download it from Microsoft if it is not installed, then select Check now. It says whether the PC can run Windows 11, and if it cannot, which requirement it misses. Windows Update can tell you as well.

Microsoft’s minimum requirements are:

• Processor: 1 GHz or faster, with two or more cores, and on Microsoft’s list of approved processors.
• Memory: 4 GB.
• Storage: 64 GB or larger.
• Firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
• TPM: Trusted Platform Module version 2.0, a security chip.
• Graphics: compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver.
• Display: high definition (720p), larger than 9 inches diagonally.

PC Health Check leaves out the graphics card and the display, which Microsoft says most compatible devices meet.

Why a new SSD or more memory does not change the answer

If the answer is no, the reason matters. A PC that falls short on memory or storage can sometimes be fixed by adding memory or fitting a bigger drive, and Microsoft’s own article says so.

The other requirements are built into the hardware or its settings. Microsoft calls the processor “a main determining factor” and says its speed and number of cores “are not considered upgradable components”. An SSD or extra memory does not change the processor, the TPM or the firmware, so it does not change those results.

None of that makes an SSD a waste of money on an older PC: it can make one much quicker, as our plain-English SSD guide explains. An SSD is a speed upgrade, not a ticket to Windows 11.

Two settings worth knowing about

Some PCs fall short on a setting, not the hardware:

• TPM switched off. Microsoft says that “in some cases, PCs that are capable of running TPM 2.0 are not set up to do so”, and that most retail motherboards for people building their own PC ship with it turned off (Microsoft).
• Secure Boot capability. This needs the PC to start in UEFI mode instead of the older Legacy mode, also called CSM (Microsoft).

Both are changed in the PC’s firmware, the software that runs before Windows starts, and the menus differ from one manufacturer to the next. Two cautions before anyone changes them.

If the drive is encrypted with BitLocker, Microsoft lists turning off or clearing the TPM, and updating the firmware, among the things that make Windows ask for the recovery key on the next start (Microsoft Learn). Have the key to hand first: our recovery key guide explains where it usually lives.

And moving a PC that already runs Windows from Legacy mode to UEFI can mean converting its disk first: in Microsoft’s documented method, the disk is converted and only then is the firmware switched to UEFI (Microsoft Learn). If any of that sounds unfamiliar, this is the point to stop and ask.

After a change, Microsoft says PC Health Check is the easiest way to see the new result, and that Windows Update can take up to a day to catch up (Microsoft).

Your options, honestly

A PC that cannot run Windows 11 is not a broken PC. Here are the four honest routes, in the order worth considering them.

1. Upgrade to Windows 11, if the PC is eligible

If the PC meets the requirements, this is usually the simplest answer. Microsoft’s upgrade FAQ says upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 are free, and the upgrade arrives through Windows Update. Before you start:

• Microsoft “always recommends backing up files before installing a new Windows version”, even though the upgrade normally carries your files across.
• The download is large. On a metered connection, your internet provider may charge for it.
• Microsoft expects most software and accessories that worked with Windows 10 to work with Windows 11, and suggests asking the publisher or manufacturer about anything you depend on. Some apps known to cause problems are removed during the upgrade.
• If it does not suit you, you have 10 days to go back to Windows 10 and keep your files.

2. Keep Windows 10 for now, and keep it as safe as you can

If the PC is not eligible, or you are not ready, Windows 10 will keep running. To keep the risk down:

• Enrol in ESU. It is the only way to keep getting security fixes for Windows 10 itself, until 12 October 2027.
• Leave Microsoft Defender on, and let Edge and your Microsoft 365 apps update.
• Back up regularly, so a problem with the PC never costs you your files.
• Be wary of anyone who gets in touch about Windows 10. Microsoft says its real error messages never include a phone number to call, and that it will not cold call you about a problem with your device (Microsoft). So a pop-up with a phone number on it, or a call out of the blue, saying your Windows 10 has expired is not Microsoft. Our tech support scam guide covers what to do.
• Plan for October 2027. ESU ends then, and deciding calmly now beats deciding in a hurry later.

3. Replace the PC

If the processor is not on Microsoft’s list and you want Windows for years to come, a new computer is the answer, especially if the old one has other problems too. Our repair-or-replace guide walks through that decision.

Moving everything across is covered step by step in setting up a new laptop and moving your files. The short version: keep the old machine, untouched, until every file you care about has opened on the new one. Microsoft’s Windows Backup can also carry files, settings and apps across to a new PC. When the old one goes, wipe it first. Microsoft points to trade-in and recycling schemes run by retailers and PC makers.

4. Give an older PC a different operating system

For a machine that cannot take Windows 11 but still runs well, there are two mainstream alternatives.

ChromeOS Flex is Google’s operating system for existing PCs and Macs, provided free of charge. Google’s minimum requirements are a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, 4 GB of memory and 16 GB of storage. Google says processors and graphics from Intel or AMD made in 2012 or earlier, and Nvidia parts from 2014 or earlier, are unlikely to work.

Google only guarantees Flex on the models in its certified models list, and each listed model has its own end-of-support year. Flex also has real limits. Google’s comparison with ChromeOS says it cannot run Windows in a virtual machine through Parallels Desktop. Google Play and Android apps are for ChromeOS devices such as Chromebooks, apart from some VPN apps, and hardware such as fingerprint readers and CD or DVD drives is not supported.

Linux is the other route, and two mainstream versions stand out:

• Linux Mint 22.3 is free of charge and supported until April 2029. Its release announcement asks for 2 GB of memory, with 4 GB recommended, and 20 GB of disk space, with 100 GB recommended.
• Ubuntu 26.04 LTS comes with five years of free security and maintenance updates. It asks for a 2 GHz dual-core processor, 6 GB of memory and 25 GB of disk space, so it is not automatically lighter than Windows 11.

All three can be tried before you commit. ChromeOS Flex has a “Try it first” option that runs from the USB installer, Ubuntu’s installer can “preview Ubuntu without making any changes to your PC” (Ubuntu), and in Linux Mint’s live session, changes are not permanent (Linux Mint).

Two warnings. A full installation of ChromeOS Flex replaces Windows: Google says it erases all existing data, applications, settings and the operating system, and that lost data is “permanently unrecoverable, even if the installation is not successful” (Google). Ubuntu’s easiest install option, “Erase disk and install Ubuntu”, clears the disk too. And none of them is Windows, so your Windows programs do not come across. Make sure everything you rely on has a version for the new system, or works in a web browser, before you commit.

Back up before you change anything

Whichever way you go, back up first. Microsoft recommends it before installing a new version of Windows, Ubuntu recommends it before installing on a PC you have used before, and Google warns that installing ChromeOS Flex erases everything.

Our guide to backing up before a repair covers what to save first and where to put it, and the same steps apply before an upgrade. If the drive is encrypted, note the BitLocker recovery key before any firmware change. And if you are moving to a new PC, setting up a new laptop and moving your files covers getting everything across without losing anything.

If you would rather not do this alone

We come to you across Leeds, West Yorkshire, Harrogate, Knaresborough and York for the hands-on side: going through the PC Health Check result with you, changing a firmware setting where that is all a PC needs, the upgrade itself, and setting up a new PC with everything moved across.

The software side, such as reading the PC Health Check result, enrolling in ESU or setting up a backup, is the kind of job a remote session can often help with, wherever you are in the UK.

Tell us the make and model, what PC Health Check says and what you use the computer for, and you get a first opinion: which of the four routes fits, whether it is worth doing, and what it is likely to cost.