Support for Windows 10 is ending in 1 year’s time, but that’s not the end of the story

Time flies as it’s been nearly a decade since Windows 10 was released. In fact, it will be reaching the end of support on the 14th of October 2025, which is exactly 365 days or one year away from today.

What does this mean for existing Windows 10 users?

When support for Windows 10 ends in October 2025, Microsoft ensures that the OS will still function. However, it will no longer receive fixes, new features, or security updates.

If your PC is not eligible to upgrade to Windows 11, you can expect to see a courtesy notification on your PC, informing you about the end of support. Otherwise, Windows says that you may have already seen a courtesy notification providing a direct path to upgrade to Windows 11 at no cost. You may check out Microsoft’s support page on how to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

You can still get security updates for your Windows 10 PC, but only if you pay

If you’re planning to stick to your non-Windows-11-compatible PC and have no intention of upgrading to a new machine, Microsoft is offering you a solution.

According to a blog post published by Microsoft themselves, individuals or organisations can opt for the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which will enable them to receive critical and important security updates via an annual subscription, after support for Windows 10 ends next year. Windows 365 customers will get the ESU program for free though. At the time of writing, Microsoft has yet to announce the final pricing and enrollment conditions for the ESU program, but will only do so closer to October 2025.