Can I switch my Home windows improve license from an outdated PC to a brand new one?

Home windows improve licenses are costly. Have they got an expiration date?

That is a query I get typically from individuals who personal older PCs/laptops operating Home windows 10 Professional. In the event you exchange that PC or laptop computer with one which has Home windows 11 Residence version preinstalled, can you utilize that outdated Home windows 10 Professional key to improve the just-purchased Win 11 Residence license to Professional?

The quick reply is: Sure, that improve state of affairs ought to work. The longer reply has just a few circumstances and caveats. 

That reply assumes you’ve got a Home windows 10 Professional product key. In that case, that key will work to carry out an improve, as a result of all Home windows 10 and Home windows 11 product keys are interchangeable. In reality, product keys for Home windows 7 Skilled and Home windows 8 Professional may also work to improve a Home windows 11 Residence set up. That was true after I first began wanting into these improve eventualities again on the daybreak of the Home windows 10 period, and my testing confirms it is nonetheless true at present. 

To carry out the improve from Home windows 11 Residence, go to Settings > System > Activation, after which click on Improve Your Version Of Home windows. That motion will reveal the Change Product Key menu. Click on Change, enter the product key, click on just a few extra buttons, and after a restart, you need to have a totally activated set up of Home windows 11 Professional.  

We may cease proper there, however that unique query talked about a “Home windows 10 Professional key,” which raises a totally completely different set of questions. Sure, you need to use an outdated product key for a Home windows 11 Professional improve, and the activation will most likely achieve success. However because the Home windows license phrases pointedly observe: “Profitable activation doesn’t affirm that the software program is real or correctly licensed.” 

Are you planning to proceed utilizing that Home windows 10 Professional set up on the outdated PC the place you initially used the product key? In that case, effectively… you are technically in violation of the a part of the license settlement that claims you possibly can solely set up and use the software program on one system at a time. However that is between you and your conscience. Alternatively, when you’ve decommissioned that PC and eliminated the improve, you are on a lot firmer floor, license-wise, and you’ll sleep soundly. 

In the event you have been a community administrator managing a Home windows deployment in a big enterprise, I might urge you to be additional cautious right here. However when you’re utilizing Home windows 11 Residence version on a PC in an unmanaged atmosphere, I’ll advise you to not fear and simply benefit from the improve. 

For extra particulars on the ins and outs of Home windows licensing, see “Is your Home windows license authorized? Must you even care?”