Windows 11 Logo with Wallpaper

Windows 11 is now available. If you've decided you want to upgrade from Windows 10, here's how you can get the free upgrade—even if Windows Update doesn't offer information technology. This works if Windows 11 doesn't officially support your PC, likewise.

How to Check if Windows 11 Supports Your PC

To check if Windows 11 officially supports your PC hardware, download and run Microsoft's PC Health Bank check app.

Click the "Check At present" button and the tool volition tell you whether Windows 11 officially supports your PC. If it doesn't, the tool will requite yous data about why. If the trouble is lack of TPM ii.0, for instance, y'all may exist able to plow TPM 2.0 on in your PC'due south UEFI firmware (BIOS.)

Here'south the good news: Even if your PC isn't officially supported, you can yet upgrade to Windows eleven anyway. Information technology's up to y'all, but Microsoft warns y'all may experience problems and won't guarantee hereafter updates for Windows on your hardware.

The PC Health Check app saying a PC meets Windows 11's requirements.

The Safe and Slow Manner: Windows Update

For the safest possible update process, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update on your Windows x PC. (Yous can press Windows+i to quickly open the Settings app.)

Click the "Bank check for updates" button to see if any updates are bachelor. If Microsoft thinks your PC is prepare for Windows 11, you'll encounter an "Upgrade to Windows 11 is ready—and it's free!" banner here. Click "Download and install" to get information technology.

Annotation: Microsoft is slowly offering this update to more than and more PCs over time. If y'all don't see the banner offering y'all the update here yet, you may see it in a few weeks—or a few months. For the all-time possible update experience on your hardware, Microsoft recommends waiting for Windows Update to offering the update to your PC. When Microsoft is confident your PC is fix, you'll get the update.

If Windows xi doesn't officially support your PC, you will never encounter the update offered via Windows Update. (Only don't worry, Windows x will still exist officially supported until October 2025.)

Windows Update offering Windows 11 on Windows 10.
Microsoft

The Fast Way: Download Windows 11

Microsoft offers a variety of tools for downloading Windows 11 immediately. These will skip the slow, careful upgrade process and let y'all skip the line and install Windows 11 right now—even if your PC doesn't officially support Windows 11.

To get started, visit Microsoft's Download Windows 11 folio. We recommend y'all download and run the Windows 11 Update Banana. It will update your current PC to Windows eleven for you lot. (You can too use the Create Windows 11 Installation Media tool to create installation media on a bootable USB or DVD, or download a Windows 11 ISO for use in a virtual machine.)

Warning: By installing Windows 11 immediately, you're skipping Microsoft'due south deadening-and-steady rollout procedure. You may encounter bugs with Windows 11 on your hardware. If that's a deal-breaker for you, we encourage you to wait a few months before you're offered the upgrade.

If you lot run into a trouble, annotation that yous can downgrade back to Windows 10 inside the starting time 10 days after upgrading.

RELATED: How to Force the Windows 11 Update and Upgrade Immediately

If Your PC Isn't Officially Supported

If your PC isn't officially supported and y'all desire to upgrade anyway, you volition take to practice some legwork to figure out why. Here'south how to install Windows eleven on an unsupported PC.

In some cases, you will be able to brand your PC officially supported. In other cases, you may have to accept the chance of bugs and issues with future updates if you'd similar to upgrade.

Whether you actually want to take the risk of problems is upwardly to you, but we encourage you lot to keep older PCs on Windows 10 unless y'all're enthusiastic near upgrading them for a detail reason.

RELATED: How to Downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10

If You lot're Running an Insider Build of Windows eleven

Past the mode, if you lot're already running a Windows Insider build of Windows 11, we encourage y'all to switch to the stable version of Windows 11—unless you lot want to continue testing Windows 11 updates, of course.