How to Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free

Upgrade from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 to Windows 10 entirely for free and using the official Microsoft web site.

Web site where you can upgrade to Windows 10:

Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7. If you're still running Windows 7, you're at risk of attacks and viruses since there are no longer any updates or patches. Windows 8 and 8.1 are both still supported; however, since the upgrade is free, you might as well get onto the latest and greatest version of Windows.

On the web site under the Create Windows 10 installation media, click on Download tool now. This will download an exe to your computer. Click on this file. When finished, open the download and accept the license terms
Choose: 'Upgrade this PC now' then click ‘Next’
Choose ‘Keep personal files and apps’
Once installed, open: Settings - Windows Update - Activation to activate your Windows 10 digital license...
OR enter your (genuine) Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 product key if you haven’t previously activated your old version of Windows

If you’d like to check your license has successfully been activated afterwards, open: Settings - Update & Security - Activation.

Note: a Windows 10 license is tied to your hardware. As such, if you need to format your computer for any reason Windows 10 will reactivate automatically.

As full disclosure, I work at Microsoft as a full-time employee.

[allydaquipil]

Upgraded Safely (9/13/2020) No files lost. Only took 2hrs, 1hr for the download and 1hr for the installation. Old Intel I3 PC by the way. Thanks!

[snowdude]

05/16/2020 Upgraded Windows 8.1 to 10. Really easy to install. Didn't lose any files or apps. Took like an hour or so to do its thing. Thank you!

[racheljacomb]

This totally worked! I was told by an IT store that my PC was too old to upgrade. Thank you so much for your terrific direction and genuine tech. You're a rockstar Kevin.

[fredandersonca]

Here it is January 15, 2021 and I just upgraded my six year old PC that has been running on win 8.1 to win 10. The process took about four hours to complete but when it restarted after the install, everything looked the same as it did before I started the upgrade. All of my shortcut icons were in the same place on my customized desktop, and the background picture was even the same. Thank you Kevin for this, it was totally seamless.

[BrewskyAZ]

FYI - On May 13, 2020 I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 using this method. Thumbs Up!!

[David-mgyj]

July/2020 worked perfectly. Upgraded from Windows 7. No harm to any data. Resolution has changed, but apart from that everything is good. Many thanks Kevin.

[NguyenCungHoaHien]

Just tried to update our community's laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 10 Home today (end of August 2020), this solution still works fine. Thank you very much Kevin.

[keldakellie]

I knew this was possible but not sure how to do it. Thank you so much. It took about 3 hours to upgrade for me but so worth the wait. Love it.

[ziyadhyder]

22nd September 2020: I successfully upgraded from windows 7 to Windows 10 Pro. Since my PC was 2 years old, It took nearly 2 hours.



Thanks
Thanks
Thank You Very much Kevin...😀😀

[abbeyking]

after 3 or so long hours of downloading windows 10 from 7, i must say thank u to u Kevin :) it worked

[blaabla]

i just use Windows 10 wallpaper to make me happy ;c

[liamkennedy]

I didint think this was gonna work but it did I went from windows 7 to 10 for free I thought that I was gonna need to pay and this was such a lifesaver thank you so much man you deserve more respect for this

[amnamohammadzahid]

Dudeee, it works! Upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7 as of 02.05.2021. No files lost and it was very easy. Couldn't even believe I actually upgraded my pc to Windows 10 but it took me around 8 hours in total. Patience is the key. Thank you very much!

[pipercub]

Thanks! Took about 2-3 hours. Amazing that Microsoft does that.

[valerypyram]

Thank you so much. I have just upgraded my laptop from win 7 to windows 10 following your steps. It works. That saved me $139

[sammyytube]

Great short video for an easy task. Worked like a charm after an hour of installation and reboots due to many apps and files. It is so pretty that I can't believe that I waited this long to let go of W7. Interesting to see so many others like me who either did not want to spend extra money or just wasn't ready to let go of their work station when you really did not have to. Thanks.

[icyabrar]

Guys I did it from windows 8.1 to windows 10 and it worked didn’t lose anything and I upgraded this pc now so yeah ty for the tutorial

[infotoknow]

I can't believe it worked ! I was trying to do it based on a Google search but it was none of them were working and I wanted to installed their software and this that and the other and I said no no but then I thought that someone on YouTube must know how.
I looked at a couple of videos and I couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing a couple of them came with no talking. You did really well. Thank you much You definitely got a thumbs up, full view and a subscribe out of me. All of it well-deserved

[judieesguerra]

Regret i did not upgrade to windows 10 before when it was always popping out for free. But now currently upgrading at the moment. Really helpful, thanks.

[donskip]

Thank you so much. I updated my mom's laptop from windows 8 to windows 10
It went flawlessly.