Windows 10 end of support: free updates now run to October 2027

What Windows 10 end of support actually means

On October 14, 2025, Microsoft stopped shipping regular updates for Windows 10. The headlines made it sound like computers came with an expiration date. They don't. Nothing shut off and nothing got deleted.

What stopped was the monthly patching. New security holes turn up in Windows all the time, and on a supported PC they get closed a few weeks later. On an unsupported one they stay open for good, and the pile grows every month. Nothing bad happens on day one, but the odds get worse the longer it goes.

Microsoft's answer for home users is Extended Security Updates, or ESU. It keeps sending the security fixes (no new features, just patches) to Windows 10 PCs that sign up.

ESU extended to 2027: do you need to do anything?

Probably not. On June 25, 2026, Microsoft quietly updated its ESU page and gave home users an extra year:

• Already enrolled? You're covered. Microsoft says coverage "will automatically continue through that date," with no action needed. Here's how to double-check.
• Never enrolled? You still can, any time until October 12, 2027, and it's usually free. Here's how.
• Paid $30 or used points? The extra year is included. Nothing more to buy.

Because it was a quiet change to a support page rather than an announcement, plenty of people still think the deadline is this October. If you were planning to buy a new PC before then because of the deadline, there's no rush now.

What October 13, 2026 means now

Nothing, for home PCs. It was the original end date, and you'll still see it in older articles and videos. Enrolled PCs keep getting security updates past it, straight through to October 12, 2027.

Key dates

How to get Windows 10 ESU for free

First, make sure you're on version 22H2

ESU only works on the last release of Windows 10, called 22H2. To check, press Windows + R, type winver, and hit Enter. You want to see this:

An older number like 21H2 means you're behind. Go to Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update and keep installing and restarting until it says you're up to date. On a PC that's been ignored for a while, that can take two or three rounds.

What else you need

Windows 10 Home or Pro with the latest updates, plus a Microsoft account (the kind you'd use for Outlook.com, OneDrive, or Xbox) that's an administrator on the PC. Work and school computers get ESU through their IT department, so this part is for home machines.

How to enroll

1. Open Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update.
2. Find the notice about Windows 10 support and click Enroll now.
3. Sign in with your Microsoft account if it asks.
4. Pick how you want to enroll (see below) and click through.
5. Check Windows Update again over the next day or two. ESU patches show up like any other update.

How to check you're already enrolled

Open Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update and scroll down. An enrolled PC shows a note that it's enrolled in Extended Security Updates. If you see the Enroll now link instead, it isn't enrolled yet. Two other quick checks:

• Click View update history. Security updates should still be arriving each month, with dates after October 2025.
• If you paid the $30, the purchase shows in your Microsoft account's order history.

What ESU costs: the three ways to enroll

I'd take the free option. If syncing settings to Microsoft bugs you, $30 is a fair price for the patches, and one license covers up to 10 PCs signed in with the same Microsoft account. That's the whole house for one payment.

So for a home PC, ESU costs nothing or a one-time $30, and the extra year to October 2027 didn't add a charge. There's no yearly fee for home users. Businesses are different: their ESU is a yearly fee per PC, and The Register reported in October 2026 that the second year doubles to $122 per device. That math is why many small offices are replacing PCs instead.

Do you have to re-enroll for year 2?

No. Microsoft says PCs that are already enrolled stay covered through October 12, 2027 with no action needed. Keep installing updates like normal.

Can you use ESU without a Microsoft account?

Not really. You need a Microsoft account to enroll, and you have to keep using it. Microsoft has said that if the account isn't used to sign in to the PC for 60 days, ESU updates stop and you'd have to enroll again. Signing up with a Microsoft account and then switching back to a local account doesn't get around it.

If you use a local account on purpose, the easiest middle ground is to sign in to Windows with the Microsoft account and leave it that way.

"Enroll now" not showing?

The usual causes are a Windows 10 version older than 22H2, missing updates, signing in with a local or non-administrator account, or a PC that's still linked to a work or school. My guide to fixing Windows 10 Extended Security Updates not showing goes through each one in order, plus the less obvious ones, like privacy tools that switch off services enrollment depends on.

What about Office, Edge, and antivirus?

Those run on their own schedules, and most of them keep updating after Windows itself stops. The dates are in what still gets updates on Windows 10. Either way, keep your browser updated. These days that's how most junk gets in, whatever version of Windows you run.

After you enroll: plan for October 2027

ESU buys time, but it won't last forever. For most people the order goes like this: enroll now, then use the next year to decide what comes next, without a deadline breathing down your neck.

Check Windows 11 first

If your computer qualifies for Windows 11, the upgrade is free and takes care of the problem for years. A PC from 2018 or later usually qualifies, and one from before that usually doesn't. The actual cutoff is the processor (Intel 8th generation or newer, AMD Ryzen 2000 or newer) plus a security chip called TPM 2.0.

My own laptops land on both sides of that line. The ThinkPad T440 I used for years has a 4th-gen Intel chip, so Windows 11 turns it away, even though it still handles web and email fine. The ThinkPad T15 I'm writing this on has a 10th-gen chip and runs Windows 11 without any tricks.

Microsoft's free PC Health Check app will tell you. If it fails, the reason matters, because a TPM or Secure Boot setting that's switched off can usually be fixed in a few minutes. My guide to checking whether your PC can run Windows 11 explains each result and has the BIOS steps for Lenovo, Dell, and HP.

If it can't run Windows 11

Then the choices are a free system like Linux Mint or ChromeOS Flex, a refurbished PC, or a paid bridge like 0patch. I compare all of them, with costs and catches, in what to do with Windows 10 after October 2027.

Things I wouldn't do

Trust a pop-up or phone call about your "expired" Windows. Microsoft doesn't call people. If a web page is flashing warnings and giving you a number to call, close the browser. If it won't close, restart the PC.

Pay a stranger for a Windows 10 "extension." The only real one is Microsoft's ESU, and for most people it's free.

Force Windows 11 onto hardware that doesn't qualify, at least not on a computer you depend on. The workarounds mostly work, but Microsoft doesn't promise those PCs will keep getting updates, so you've swapped one problem for a similar one. (More on that in installing Windows 11 on an unsupported PC.)

Buy a new PC just to beat a deadline. Memory and storage prices shot up in 2026, and new computers got pricier with them. With the deadline now a year out, you can wait for a deal.