Windows 10 support ends tomorrow, but here’s how to get an extra year for free

Are you still running Windows 10 on your PC? Starting tomorrow, October 14, Microsoft is moving the software to “end of life” status. What does that mean for you? While Windows 10 PCs will continue to work after that date, they’ll stop getting important security updates by default. That leaves you with three choices if you want to make sure your computer remains secure:

1. You can choose to upgrade to Windows 11 for free if your computer is compatible.

2. You can buy a new PC that already has Windows 11 pre-installed (or opt for an alternative, like a Mac or a Chromebook).

3. Forget about Windows 11 right now and sign up for the Extended Security Updates (ESU), which lets you kick the can down the road for a year.

The last one is easy — and can now be done for free in many cases — so we’ll focus on that one here. We’ll walk you through the steps of keeping Windows 10 on your PC… for now, at least.

How to sign up for Windows 10 Extended Security Updates on your computer

We can question Microsoft’s motives for killing off Windows 10, even though it works perfectly well on most older PCs. But without those periodic security updates, your PC will become increasingly susceptible to malware with each passing week. To that end, enrolling in Extended Security Updates (ESU) will give you another year of using Windows 10 securely.

At one point, Microsoft suggested the 12-month extension would require a $30 fee. While that’s still an option, there’s now a free path for Windows 10 users in the US. Here’s how to make it happen.

Step 1: Make sure your PC is up to date

You can find out if your computer is up-to-date by going into your Settings > System > About, then scroll down to see what version you’re running. If not, you’ll want to make sure you also install all the Windows 10 updates available.

Step 2: Make sure you’re using an administrator account

If you share a computer with multiple people in your household, make sure you’re signed in to the administrator account. Typically, it’s the first account created on the computer. You’ll know it’s the right one when you see “Administrator” under the name. (You can double-check under Settings > Your Info.)

Step 3: Verify if your PC is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 (or not)

If you see an option to upgrade to Windows 11, just do that. It’s free and it keeps you in the Windows loop. Otherwise, continue following the steps below so you can keep your computer safe with security updates.

Step 4: Enroll in Extended Security Updates

Sign up for ESU by selecting Update & Security from the Settings menu. Click the “Enroll Now” sign-up link, as pictured below. Again, you may see an option to download Windows 11 if your computer meets the requirements (again, definitely do that if you see it).

If you’re not seeing the “Enroll now” link, you probably need to update and install the latest Windows 10 updates (as noted above).

Step 5: Choose your upgrade method

Next up is choosing how you want to enroll, and you have a few options. The easiest way is to back up your PC settings. It’s free, but it takes a little bit of time since you’ll need to back up your data. Again, you’ll need to be using your administrator account to get started.

That said, the free option here comes with two catches, at least for users in the US. (European users will get the free option with no strings attached.) The first is that you’ll be linking your Windows login to Microsoft’s cloud-based online service. Most users have likely already done this (if they’re using CoPilot, Office 365, GamePass, OneDrive or one of Microsoft’s other various online services). But if you’ve specifically opted for a local login to Windows, the price you’re paying for this “free” extension is joining the cloud-connected Microsoft universe.

The other potential issue is that the free backup only applies to the first 5 GB of storage. Anything more, and you’ll need to pay up for Microsoft’s OneDrive services. But thankfully, you can turn off anything you don’t want to back up by going to Settings > OneDrive and toggling off options like Documents, Pictures and Videos to get in under the free threshold to start.

Once you’re signed in, a window will pop up that says “Add this device to receive Extended Security Updates.” Click Add Device to enroll it. Click Done.

A note: Thanks to YouTube’s Explaining Computers channel, where we grabbed the screenshot above (since our test PC was already signed up for cloud backups, and didn’t provide the splash screen to choose options). You can watch their full video if you’d like a deeper dive into the process.

That’s it, you’re done! (Until next year)

You’ve got 12 more months to figure out an alternative upgrade path to Windows 11. If anything changes next year, we’ll update this story with what your next steps are.