Microsoft’s new Windows 11 operating system is a free upgrade to eligible Windows 10 users. This means that Windows 10 PCs that meet the minimum hardware requirements set for Windows 11 can upgrade to Windows 11 for no additional fee.
Ever since the announcement of Windows 11, we have been getting various types of queries. One of them is with respect to the free upgrade. Many users want to know if they can upgrade from Windows 10 Home edition to Windows 11 Pro for free.
As you might already know, the Pro edition of Windows 11, in addition to all the features available in the Home edition, includes many advanced features such as Group Policy, Client Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption.
Upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 11 Pro for free?
You will get the same edition when you upgrade from your Windows 10 installation to Windows 11 using the free upgrade offer. That is, if you upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 11, the setup will automatically upgrade the installation to Windows 11 Home. Similarly, Windows 10 Pro edition users will be automatically upgraded to Windows 11 Pro edition.
So, you cannot upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 11 Pro edition for free.
For most PC users, the Pro edition is not worth it. Instead, the Home edition offers everything that most users need.
How to upgrade from Home to Pro edition?
After upgrading to Windows 11 or before upgrading to Windows 11, you can upgrade the Home edition to the Pro edition by buying a license.
You can use the Microsoft Store to buy the Pro edition license. The one-time upgrade to Windows 10 Pro edition will cost $99. We expect similar pricing for Windows 11 as well.
By the way, you do not need to reinstall your Windows installation to upgrade from Home to Pro edition.
Check which edition of Windows 10/11 you have installed
On both Windows 10/11:
Step 1: Go to Settings > System > About page.
Step 2: The Windows specifications section displays the edition along with other details like version and installed date.
You might also be interested in our can I upgrade from Windows 10 32-bit to Windows 11 64-bit article.
