Check out our head-to-head comparison of Home, Pro, and S Mode. Before getting started with upgrading, you should check to see which version your PC is running. To do so, head to the search box in the Windows 10 Taskbar , or click on the Start Menu.

Next, type in About. In the list of results that appear, click on About You r PC , which will launch a settings window. If it lists Windows 10 Pro, then there will be no need to upgrade. If not, proceed to Step 2. Next up, in that same window, click on Change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows. Doing so should open up the Activation settings page. If the downgrade path is supported, then your apps and settings can be migrated from the current edition.

If a path isn’t supported, then a clean install is required. Downgrading from any edition of Windows 10 to Windows 7, 8, or 8. You also can’t downgrade from a later version to an earlier version of the same edition Ex: Windows 10 Pro to unless the rollback process is used. This article doesn’t discuss version downgrades. If you are using Windows 10 Enterprise Subscription Activation and a license expires, devices will automatically revert to the original edition when the grace period expires.

You can move directly from Enterprise to any valid destination edition. In this example, downgrading to Pro for Workstations, Pro Education, or Education requires an additional activation key to supersede the firmware-embedded Pro key.

In all cases, you must comply with Microsoft License Terms. Some slightly more complex scenarios aren’t represented by the table above. For example, you can perform an upgrade from Pro to Pro for Workstation on a computer with an embedded Pro key using a Pro for Workstation license key, and then later downgrade this computer back to Pro with the firmware-embedded key.

The downgrade is allowed but only because the pre-installed OS is Pro. Windows 10 upgrade paths Windows 10 volume license media Windows 10 Subscription Activation. If you are still on Windows 7 or 8, you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. If you have an old, retail non-OEM copy of Windows 7, 8 or 10 you are no longer using on another PC, you can likely use the product key when you do a fresh install of Windows on your new PC.

However, you must first make sure it’s deactivated on the old PC it came from. See our article on how to transfer a Windows 10 or 11 license to a new PC for step-by-step information on how to retrieve and move your key. The process of transferring a Windows license varies, depending upon whether you have digital or non-digital license. With a the former, you’ll need to log into your Microsoft account to deactivate the old PC.

And with the latter, you’ll want to use a command line command to terminate the activation. Note that if the product key comes from a prebuilt computer that came from the factory with Windows on it, it has an OEM key that may not work on a different new PC. Feel free to try it, though, because if it works you have Windows 10 or 11 for free. The good news is that you only have two serious disadvantages from not activating Windows 10 or However, if you are using a Microsoft account that syncs with another computer on which you have custom wallpaper, that wallpaper will appear on your unactivated Windows.

But come on; does anyone actually do that? Other than those inconveniences, unactivated Windows should work just fine and receive automatic updates too. You can see if your school is eligible and download your free Windows 11 key here opens in new tab.

You might be able to get them for less with a Kinguin discount code though. These are all OEM keys and likely can’t be used on another computer after you activate them on the first one. We recommend paying a little extra to get a key that has “online activation,” which means that it should activate automatically over the Internet. Keys that aren’t marked for “online activation” may force you to call Microsoft, wait on hold and ask a phone representative for help activating.

The representative may even ask for your Microsoft account, which is not great for your privacy. Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. While we can’t vouch for all of them, websites selling cheap Windows 10 or 11 keys are likely offering legitimate codes.

Kinguin has more than three dozen merchants worldwide selling Windows keys. It’s just another marketplace. We’ve bought keys from Kinguin a few times. So we tried calling the number and waited on hold for a few minutes. We thought activating via phone would be an automated process where we just punched in the key and got an approval code, but instead we got a live representative who immediately asked for our Microsoft account ID.

Another time, we paid a few dollars more for an online activation key. Lo and behold, it activated as soon as we entered the code, with no phone call required. Are you likely to be ripped off? However, both sites play host to a number of third-party sellers whose product keys may or may not be legit.

The easiest but most expensive way to get Windows is to buy your key directly from Microsoft. You can get these either as downloads or on USB drives.

Windows 10 home to pro upgrade license cost free download

 
The wording here is remarkably vague. Is there a deadline for when to contact Support and receive the upgrade key? And the language around the end of that offer was similarly vague.