Officially, Microsoft will stop providing new security updates for Windows 10 PCs after October 14, 2025, a little over a decade after its initial release. It’s a stick that Microsoft is using to push upgrades to the newer Windows 11, whether you install it on a PC you already have or buy a brand-new PC to meet Windows 11’s system requirements.
But if you can’t or don’t want to upgrade to Windows 11, Microsoft has made it reasonably simple to get an extra year of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for Windows 10, extending its official support window to October of 2026. But this won’t happen automatically; users will need to enroll their PCs in the ESU program to get the updates, using an enrollment feature that Microsoft just released to Windows 10 PCs recently.
For anyone looking to get that extra year of updates, here’s how to enroll your PC, how to make sure your PC is enrolled, and how to avoid paying the $30 fee that Microsoft is nominally charging for these updates.
A PC running Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro Education, or Workstation with all available update installed.
An administrator account.
A Microsoft account. Even if you usually sign in with a local account, you need a Microsoft account to acquire the ESU license.
The PC can’t be in kiosk mode, joined to an Active Directory domain, joined to Microsoft Entra, or enrolled in any kind of mobile device management (MDM), which will cover a lot of workplace PCs. Microsoft has separate ESU programs for businesses, schools, and other large organizations.
If your PC meets those conditions, you’ll enroll in the ESU program by opening the Settings app and clicking Windows Update. You should see a status message telling you that Windows 10 updates end in October of 2025, with an “enroll now” link you can click to enroll in the Extended Security Updates program.
Windows 10 users whose PCs meet the conditions for the ESU program will start seeing this status message about the end of support, along with an enrollment link.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
Windows 10 users whose PCs meet the conditions for the ESU program will start seeing this status message about the end of support, along with an enrollment link.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
If you’re not already signing in with a Microsoft account, you’ll be asked to use one here. This can be temporary, if you want it to be—once you’ve enrolled a given PC, you can sign back out of the Microsoft account and still get the ESUs. But you’ll need an account every time you enroll a new PC, or if you do a fresh install of Windows 10 on your PC and need to re-enroll.
This enrollment app will walk you through the process of signing your PC up for the ESU program.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
This enrollment app will walk you through the process of signing your PC up for the ESU program.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
There are three ways to get an ESU license: You can pay a $30 one-time purchase, you can redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, or you can back up settings with the Windows Backup app.
Of these, the Backup app is the most painless; it backs up some saved credentials, some Windows settings, and some Windows apps to your account. It can also back up folders you specify, if your account has the space for them (the paltry 5GB you get for free won’t be good for much, but it’s there).
If you’re not already signed in with a Microsoft account, you’ll need to sign in to get ESUs.
Andrew Cunningham
If you’re not already signed in with a Microsoft account, you’ll need to sign in to get ESUs.
Andrew Cunningham
My account had already been used for Windows Backup at some point, so it was the only option I was offered. If you haven’t used Windows Backup, you’ll also see options for using Microsoft Rewards points or paying a one-time $30 fee.
Andrew Cunningham
My account had already been used for Windows Backup at some point, so it was the only option I was offered. If you haven’t used Windows Backup, you’ll also see options for using Microsoft Rewards points or paying a one-time $30 fee.
Andrew Cunningham
Successfully enrolled!
Andrew Cunningham
Successfully enrolled!
Andrew Cunningham
My account had already been used for Windows Backup at some point, so it was the only option I was offered. If you haven’t used Windows Backup, you’ll also see options for using Microsoft Rewards points or paying a one-time $30 fee.
Andrew Cunningham
Successfully enrolled!
Andrew Cunningham
I had already used the Windows Backup app with my Microsoft Account at some point in the past, so I was automatically offered free enrollment into the ESU program. Whichever option you choose, click the Enroll button, and your PC will be signed up for the extra year of updates.
This status message will confirm whether any given PC is enrolled in the ESU program.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
This status message will confirm whether any given PC is enrolled in the ESU program.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
A status message in the Windows Update app will confirm that your PC has been enrolled. You’ll get security updates for Windows itself through October of 2026, and Microsoft has separately committed to providing Microsoft Defender Antivirus definitions updates and security updates for supported Microsoft Office versions through at least 2028.
What if I don’t want to store anything with Microsoft?
We know that some of you want absolutely nothing to do with a Microsoft account, despite the company’s push to require one as a precondition of using any version of Windows 11. If this describes you, the good news is that you can enroll in the ESU program without needing to stay enrolled in Windows Backup or without staying signed in to a Microsoft account at all.
Switching off these toggles will disable Windows Backup.
Andrew Cunningham
Switching off these toggles will disable Windows Backup.
Andrew Cunningham
In your Microsoft Account settings, clearing this data should get rid of anything you backed up using Windows Backup.
Andrew Cunningham
In your Microsoft Account settings, clearing this data should get rid of anything you backed up using Windows Backup.
Andrew Cunningham
This is the information that clearing stored settings will get rid of.
Andrew Cunningham
This is the information that clearing stored settings will get rid of.
Andrew Cunningham
In your Microsoft Account settings, clearing this data should get rid of anything you backed up using Windows Backup.
Andrew Cunningham
This is the information that clearing stored settings will get rid of.
Andrew Cunningham
To stop using Windows backup, navigate to Settings, Accounts, and click Windows backup, and turn off all the toggles to stop future backups from happening. You should be able to clear any previous backup settings by going to your Microsoft account settings in a web browser, navigating to the Devices tab, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Clear stored settings.” Any files synced via OneDrive can be managed via its web interface.
To sign out of a Microsoft account altogether, navigate to Settings, Accounts, and the Your Info tab. There, you should either be able to click a link labeled “sign in with a local account instead” or “stop signing in to all Microsoft apps automatically,” depending on how you signed in in the first place. After swapping back to a local account, you can also navigate to Settings, Accounts, and the Email & Accounts tab and remove any Microsoft accounts you see here if you don’t want to use them for Edge or other Windows apps on your PC.
Switching from a Microsoft account back to a local account. This won’t affect ESU enrollment; once you’ve enrolled a PC, it will stay enrolled unless you reinstall Windows.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
Switching from a Microsoft account back to a local account. This won’t affect ESU enrollment; once you’ve enrolled a PC, it will stay enrolled unless you reinstall Windows.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
Even after removing all vestiges of all Microsoft accounts from your PC, you’ll still see the “your PC is enrolled to get Extended Security Updates” status message on the Windows Update page. We’d prefer to be able to get the updates without the rigmarole, but for people who can’t or don’t want to install Windows 11, the extra year of security patches is worth 10 or 15 minutes of irritation.
Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.
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