We would also very much encourage you to read our earlier story on the Windows 11 minimum hardware specifications, download Microsoft’s Health Check app, and check to see if your PC is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11. You’ll need a PC that meets the minimum hardware specifications of Windows 11. Simply run Windows Update on your computer before installing Windows 11 to make sure it’s properly patched. Plan on having at least 9 GB of free space available to download Windows 11, and make sure your PC is up to date, with Windows 10 Version 2004 or above installed. We’d say that allocating 30 minutes to an hour sounds about right, but it may be very variable. The time that downloading and installation of Windows 11 will require will vary, due to your PC’s speed and your available broadband bandwidth. There’s no need to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 Pro unless you love Windows Sandbox or local accounts. You can also upgrade to Windows 11 Pro after first upgrading to from Windows 10 Home to Windows 11 Home, though you’ll need to enter a Microsoft account to do so. You’ll pay full price going that route though to save some cash, check out our guide on how to get Windows for cheap (or maybe even free). To upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and then to Windows 11 Pro, the simplest way is to go to the Microsoft Store and upgrade to Windows 10 Pro before kicking off the upgrade. If you own a Windows 10 Pro account and upgrade to Windows 11 Pro, you’ll be able to use a local (or as Microsoft now calls it, “offline”) account. Our Windows 11 upgrade checklist can help you ensure all your ducks are in a row.Īlso make sure you understand that Windows 11 Home will require a Microsoft account to administer.

Take a moment and back up critical files to an external hard drive or the cloud before proceeding. While we don’t think there’s much risk to downloading and installing Windows 11, there’s always the risk that something will go wrong. Before you begin downloading Windows 11, make sure you have the right PC hardware.

Windows 11 upgrade download