Windows 11 Free Upgrade Checker

If your existing Windows 10 PC is running Windows 10 20H1 or later and meets the minimum hardware specificationsit will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalized, but for most devices already in use today, we expect it to be ready sometime in early 2022. Not all Windows 10 PCs that are eligible to upgrade will be offered to upgrade at the same time. To see if your PC is eligible to upgrade, refer to our knowledge base for a list of tested systems. Once the upgrade rollout has started, you can check if it is ready for your device by going to Settings/Windows Updates.

More information on how that is presented will be available at a later date. Additional desktop notification options may be also be added at a later date. Windows 11 version 21H2 was released with a ton of new features, security improvements that focus on productivity and more. Microsoft has confirmed Windows 11 is a free upgrade for all eligible Windows 10 devices, but not for all. Your device must meet Windows 11 system requirements and bypass the PC health checkup tool before the update to appear in the usual windows update section under settings on your computer. So if you want to get this free upgrade, you must check and confirm whether your device is ready for the new windows 11.

Here in this post guide how to check if your PC can run Windows 11 or your device is eligible for Windows 11 free upgrade. If your existing Windows 10 PC is running Windows 10 20H1 or later and meets the minimum hardware specifications it will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. To see if your PC is eligible to upgrade, refer to the specifications here. Windows 11 continues our strong commitment to compatibility.

This means that devices can upgrade to Windows 11 and critical apps and devices will simply work. Raising the Windows 11 minimum system requirements enables us to better support apps and hardware for drivers and devices. Feedback also shows us that unsupported hardware is more likely to have older drivers that are incompatible with new OS features such as VBS. Supported hardware also comes with modern drivers, which helps ensure not only the reliability we mentioned earlier, but also great hardware compatibility. In addition to increased reliability, the supported processors increase security capabilities at the chip level.

These processors provide virtualization extensions and virtualization performance improvements. Windows 11 supports virtualization-based security which enables several security capabilities, including memory integrity, also known as hypervisor-protected code integrity . HVCI disables dynamic code injection into the Windows kernel. HVCI also provides driver control and ensures that all drivers loaded meet a policy of allowed drivers set by Microsoft and the user. The United States Department of Defense requires virtualization-based security on Windows 10 for their devices.

In partnership with our OEM and silicon partners, we will be enabling VBS and HVCI on most new PCs over this next year. And we will continue to seek opportunities to expand VBS across more systems over time. If your existing Windows 10 PC is running the most current version of Windows 10 and meets the minimum hardware specifications it will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. Not all Windows 10 PCs that are eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 will be offered to upgrade at the same time. For those who are using a PC that won't upgrade, and who aren't ready to transition to a new device, Windows 10 is the right choice. We will support Windows 10 through October 14, 2025 and we recently announced that the next feature update to Windows 10 is coming later this year.

Whatever you decide, we are committed to supporting you and offering choice in your computing journey. If you want to see the full Windows 11 minimum system requirements, you can visit this page. The new Windows 11 is here and it surely comes with a host of interesting features. The latest operating system from Microsoft brings you new visual changes, compatibility with Android, interesting gaming-related features, and more. The company has also revealed that a vast majority of PC or laptop available in the market will be compatible with Windows 11.

The brand has also released a list of minimum requirements and processors that support the latest operating system. That being said, if you want to know whether your Windows 10-powered laptop or PC is compatible with Windows 11, there is a simple way to do it. In this article, we are going to show a step-by-step guide of how you can check for Windows 11 compatibility with your laptop or PC. Windows 11 has higher technical requirements than Windows 10, is possible to install Windows 11 on devices that don't meet the minimum requirements. Upgrading unsupported hardware to Windows 11 will require you to install the update manually using an ISO. There is a different set of minimum minimum requirements your PC will have to meet including 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage space, and two-core 64-bit 1 GHz processor.

The program returns one of three possible windows after the compatibility check runs. I'm running Enterprise on my production PC and have flagged this as an error or problem with Microsoft via its Feedback Hub. Following the results of our testing, we are making a small number of additions to the compatible processor list , but otherwise will maintain the minimum system requirements as originally set. Windows 11 will be provided as a free update to all eligible devices that are currently running Windows 10.

Eligibility for automatic upgrade is based on certain minimum hardware requirements. You can refer to our knowledge base for a list of tested systems to determine if your device eligible to upgrade to Windows -11. Many PCs that are less than four years old will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. They must be running 20H1 or later version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware requirements to receive the Windows 11 upgrade.

You can use thePC Health Check appto determine if your device is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11. They must be running the most current version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware requirements. If you didn't get a chance to download it, you can actually use third-party apps to check if your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements.

One of those tools is WhyNotWin11 that you can download from GitHub. With its machine learning technology, Microsoft has determined further devices on which the Windows 11 update prompt should now appear automatically. The Redmond-based software company has not revealed any additional information on which exact PC configurations are included in this third group. However, manually triggering the Windows 11 update, which is how many tech enthusiasts probably installed Windows 11 in the past weeks, is no longer necessary on these PCs. Users can simply check the regular Windows Update application in order to verify whether the Windows 11 upgrade is ready to download on their respective device. Most Windows 10 PCs currently being sold will be able to upgrade to New Windows.

For the PC to be able to upgrade to New Windows, it must meet the minimum hardware specifications and specific hardware is required for some features found here. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalised but is scheduled to begin late in 2021 and continue into 2022. All Dell PCs with Windows 10 currently being sold on dell.com will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. For the PC to be able to upgrade to Windows 11, it must meet the minimum hardware specifications and specific hardware is required for some features. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalized but is scheduled to begin late in 2021 and continue into 2022.

Note that Windows 11 will only be a 64-bit release and won't come in a 32-bit flavor. That's fair since 32-bit PCs are not sold anymore anyway and 64-bit editions can run 32-bit applications just fine. Of course, Windows 11 supports System on a Chip which means Windows 10 on ARM devices will get the upgrade as long as they meet other criteria.

The above screenshot makes it clear that Surface Pro X running Windows 10 on ARM is eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade. More details about the feature-specific requirements here. The app will let you know if your Windows 10 PC's processor, graphics card, and other hardware are compatible with the update to Windows 11. It will also require at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

Finally, it must support UEFI secure boot and TPM 2.0. Either of these tools can provide you ample intelligence to determine if your PC is ready for Windows 11, with one caveat. Older PCs whose CPUs qualify under the processor requirement may include hardware-based TPM chips of version 1.3 or older . These CPUs can emulate TPM 2.0, so what looks like a failure to meet Windows 11 requirements at the hardware level can be offset in software.

I will explain further in the section on the Windows 11 Compatibility Check script below. All you'll need is a PC that meets the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11, which is now a 64-bit CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Windows 11 will be delivered through Windows Update in much the same way as Windows 10 updates have been made available previously.

After carefully analyzing the first generation of AMD Zen processors in partnership with AMD, together we concluded that there are no additions to the supported CPU list. We will be updating the PC Health Check app to identify the correct systems with the newly added Intel CPUs in the coming weeks before the tool is released for general availability. Eleven Forums is a great site for all things Windows 11. I have yet to see any must-have features from Win11 to make me recommend a quick upgrade to win11 so it is best to wait for now to see how things pan out. Perhaps in a few months, MS will relax its present requirements or there will be something like Storage Sense that really makes the Win 11 upgrade worthwhile. For now tho, just let the upgrade go by if you are not automatically eligible for the upgrade or are unsure about making the jump.

Knowing that some users will want to install Windows 11 on systems that don't meet all of its hardware requirements, Microsoft has provided a registry hack that loosens them up somewhat. Using this hack, you can install on a system that has at least TPM 1.2 and has an unsupported CPU. That said, we recommend the scripts above because they don't require you to have TPM of any kind. The Secure boot comes under the UEFI its a program interface that works between your operating system, firmware and hardware. And Secure boot is a security feature in UEFI that helps ensure that a device boots only with software trusted by the OEM .

Or we can say it provides a secure environment to boot windows and fends off malicious programs from hijacking your system during the boot process. For both types of upgrades, head to Microsoft's Windows 11 download page. To perform an in-place upgrade, use the Windows 11 Installation Assistant. For a clean install, you must create a bootable USB drive or DVD disc. Windows users should first try the Media Creation Tool for this process, since it does all the work for you. Mac and Linux users will have to flash or burn the ISO file for Windows 11 to a drive or disc, respectively.

You can check out our guide on how to upgrade to Windows 11 for more details on each of these methods. The latest version of Windows has pretty strict system requirements and only officially supports PCs with modern CPUs. Microsoft has a handy tool to help you check, but even unsupported PCs will be allowed to upgrade. Upgrades to Windows 11 will begin to roll out late in 2021 and continue into 2022. During this time, we will be doing some behind the scenes testing and validating for your specific PC. Windows Update will provide an indication if and when your PC is eligible.

You can check to see by going to Settings/Windows Update. These are the basic requirements for installing Windows 11 on a PC. If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not be able to install Windows 11 on your device and might want to consider purchasinga new PC.

Still, if the app shows that your laptop or PC is not compatible, we suggest you should wait. Because Microsoft has revealed that it will update its hardware compatibility list pretty soon. The company has said the list of hardware compatible devices is constantly being updated in the app. Furthermore, the Windows 11 update will only arrive at the end of the year, this may change until then. Simply put, the Redmond giant might make some changes in the hardware list closer to the official rollout of Windows 11. I'll walk you through the system requirements as they stand now, as well as how to use the PC Health Check app and two alternative tools to check a PC's Windows 11 upgrade readiness.

If you want to get this free upgrade when it goes live, you will need to confirm whether your device is ready for the new Windows 11. You can download this app through this linkor just check the list of minimum requirements here. To check if your current Windows 10 PC meets the requirements to run Windows 11 and is eligible for the free upgrade to Windows 11, you'd need to download and run the PC Health Check app. If all checks out, like for my Surface Pro X, you'll get a free upgrade when it rolls out. Microsoft has already stated that if your PC's CPU technically doesn't support the upgrade, you can still force it to accept Windows 11 by installing it via an ISO file.

It has to have a 64-bit CPU (no 32-bit CPUs allowed) with at least 1GHz of clock speed, along with the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage requirements. On October 5, Microsoft officially made the Windows 11 upgrade available for download. Even though there was quite some controversy caused by the strict hardware requirements and therefore limited compatibility of Windows 11, things seem to have calmed a bit over the last couple of weeks. Therefore Microsoft now announced that it has officially started the next phase of the gradual roll out of the Windows 11 upgrade. This is probably just one of many ways Microsoft is going to try and nudge people toward upgrading to Windows 11. The software launched earlier this month on new PCs, and as a free upgrade for some Windows 10 users.

Existing machines will be upgraded slowly, so most people haven't gotten a prompt to upgrade yet. However, Microsoft says this process is intentionally cautious. PCs will be upgraded in batches while Microsoft monitors any problems that arise. If you wait for Microsoft's prompt, you might not have Windows 11 until next year.

If you're itching to upgrade though, you can manually install the update on a compatible system by heading to Microsoft's site and getting the installation assistant. Microsoft had already released its PC Health Check tool on 24 June 2021, directly after the presentation of Windows 11. This MSI installation file can be downloaded from the Windows 10 site (see the "Get ready" section). However, the tool requires Windows 10 version 1803 or higher to be installed. Furthermore, there were some irritations with the first version of the tool regarding its results.

Once you've chosen a method for your upgrade, be sure to first look over our Windows 11 upgrade checklist to get all your ducks in a row. It'll make it easier to zip through the process—and recover faster if something happens to go awry. And while you're waiting for the installation to complete, you can check out our Windows 11 review as well as six new features you should try after you make the jump. You'll know exactly where to start and what to expect. DirectStorage – This item checks the Storage Controller of your system disk and the Shader Model of your graphics card to see if they meet DirectStorage requirements.

DirectStorage is a feature that allows games to load quickly by working to load assets on the GPU, saving resources on the CPU and as such helps to improve graphics and reduce load times. If you have a hybrid system (eg. gaming laptop) containing both an integrated and discrete GPU, the tool will use the discrete GPU for the validation. Note that the tool does not use a list of supported processors but actually checks various feature bits reported by the processor.

But only Windows 10 PCs that are running Windows 10 20H1 or later and meet the minimum hardware specifications will be able to upgrade. You can check to see if you have the latest updates for Windows 10 in Settings/Windows Update. Microsoft continues to test new features and improvements after Windows 11 was released. It only tests the latest version of Windows with members who participate in the Windows Insider Program in the Dev, Beta and Release Preview channels. Microsoft releasedWindows 11 to the general public in October, and now the company is rolling it out to more PCs if they meet Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11.