Windows 11 24H2 Support Ends October 13, 2026: How to Upgrade to 25H2

Windows 11 version 24H2 Home and Pro stop receiving updates on October 13, 2026. After this date, your PC gets no more monthly security patches. The fix is to move to Windows 11 version 25H2, which takes one small download and one restart, and keeps your files and apps where they are.

The steps below cover checking your version, installing 25H2 from Windows Update, and fixing the most common reasons the 25H2 offer never appears.

Key Takeaways

• Windows 11 24H2 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations reach end of updates on October 13, 2026.
• Enterprise and Education editions of 24H2 get one more year, until October 12, 2027.
• Upgrading to 25H2 uses the KB5054156 enablement package, needs one restart, and keeps your files and apps.
• 25H2 Home and Pro get updates until October 12, 2027.

What Happens When Windows 11 24H2 Reaches End of Updates?

Your PC keeps working, but it stops getting security and bug fixes. The October 13, 2026 Patch Tuesday update is the last one Microsoft releases for 24H2 Home and Pro.

Microsoft's Windows 11, version 24H2 release health page states devices on these editions will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates. In plain terms, any Windows flaw found after mid-October stays unpatched on a 24H2 Home or Pro PC.

Here is who the deadline hits:

• Affected on October 13, 2026: Windows 11 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations, version 24H2
• Supported until October 12, 2027: Windows 11 Enterprise and Education, version 24H2
• No upgrade path to 25H2: Windows 11 SE

If you bought your PC in the US from a retailer like Best Buy or Costco, you most likely run Home or Pro, so the October date applies to you.

How Do You Check Which Windows 11 Version You Have?

Press Windows key + R, type winver, and press Enter. The window shows your version (24H2 or 25H2) and your OS build number.

The build number tells you the same thing at a glance:

• Build 26100.xxxx means version 24H2
• Build 26200.xxxx means version 25H2

You also see this in Settings > System > About. Scroll to Windows specifications and read the Version and OS build lines. Check the Edition line on the same screen. If it says Enterprise or Education, you have until October 2027 and no rush.

How Do You Upgrade From 24H2 to 25H2 Through Windows Update?

Open Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates. When the offer appears, it reads Feature update to Windows 11, version 25H2. Select Download and install, then restart when prompted.

The full sequence on a typical home PC:

1. Save your open work and back up anything you care about to OneDrive or an external drive.
2. Open Settings (Windows key + I) and select Windows Update in the left pane.
3. Turn on Get the latest updates as soon as they're available. This toggle puts your PC earlier in line for the 25H2 offer.
4. Select Check for updates.
5. Under Feature update to Windows 11, version 25H2, select Download and install.
6. Wait for the download to finish, then select Restart now.
7. After the restart, run winver again and confirm it says Version 25H2 with a 26200 build number.

Because the download is small, the install time is mostly the restart itself. On a PC with an SSD, expect the whole process to finish in well under half an hour.

Why is the 25H2 upgrade so small?

24H2 and 25H2 share the same core files. Microsoft ships 25H2 features inside monthly 24H2 updates in a switched-off state, and the enablement package (KB5054156) turns them on. Your PC does not reinstall Windows. It flips a set of flags and restarts once.

For this to work, your 24H2 PC needs the August 29, 2025 update (KB5064081) or any later cumulative update. If you've installed monthly updates at any point in the past year, you already meet this requirement.

Why Is the 25H2 Update Not Showing Up?

The four usual causes are paused updates, a Group Policy version lock, a safeguard hold, or a missing prerequisite update. Work through them in this order.

Updates are paused. On the Windows Update page, look for a banner reading Updates paused until a date. Select Resume updates, then check again.

A target version is locked. On Windows 11 Pro, someone (you, a relative, or a past IT setup) set a policy to hold the PC on 24H2. To check:

1. Press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage updates offered from Windows Update.
3. Open Select the target Feature Update version.
4. If it's set to Enabled with 24H2 in the version box, change it to Not Configured and select OK.
5. Restart and check for updates again.

Windows 11 Home has no Group Policy Editor, so skip this step on Home.

A safeguard hold blocks your PC. Microsoft holds back feature updates from PCs with a known incompatible driver or app. Check the release health dashboard for open issues. When a hold applies, wait for the fix instead of forcing the upgrade, since forcing past a hold is what breaks drivers.

Your 24H2 install is behind on updates. Install every pending cumulative update first, restart, and check again. If a cumulative update refuses to install, see our guide to Windows 11 update KB5124008 stuck at 0%. The 25H2 offer only appears once the prerequisite update from August 2025 or later is present.

Is There a Way to Upgrade Without Windows Update?

Yes. Download the Windows 11 Installation Assistant from Microsoft's official Windows 11 download page and run it. It installs the current version, 25H2, as an in-place upgrade and keeps your files and apps.

This route downloads the full operating system instead of the small enablement package, so expect a 4 GB to 5 GB download and 30 to 60 minutes of install time. Use it when Windows Update refuses to show the offer and none of the fixes above help.

Advanced users also grab the KB5054156 package from the Microsoft Update Catalog and install it by hand. Only do this if you know your PC has no safeguard hold, because the manual install skips Microsoft's compatibility check.

What Changes After You Move to 25H2?

For daily use, almost nothing. Your Start menu, taskbar, apps, and files look the same. The visible changes are small, and two legacy tools are gone.

• PowerShell 2.0 is removed. Old scripts written for version 2.0 need PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7.
• WMIC is removed. The wmic command no longer runs. Use PowerShell commands such as Get-CimInstance instead.
• Same monthly updates. 24H2 and 25H2 receive the same cumulative update each month. The September 2026 update, KB5124008, shipped as build 26100.9445 for 24H2 and 26200.9445 for 25H2, with the same bugs and the same fixes on both. The follow-up emergency patch, KB5129195, also shipped for both versions.

This last point matters if you've held off because of recent update problems. Upgrading to 25H2 does not add new bugs from the September release. You were already getting those on 24H2. If Windows Security started warning you about disabled antivirus around the same time, read why Windows 11 says virus protection is turned off after the update.

What About Windows 11 26H1?

Windows 11 version 26H1 exists, but you won't see it offered as an upgrade. It ships only on certain new PCs with newer ARM chips. Existing 24H2 PCs move to 25H2, and 25H2 is the version to be on through October 2027.

What If You Do Nothing?

Microsoft says unmanaged Home and Pro PCs on 24H2 receive the 25H2 update automatically. You pick the restart time or postpone it for a while, but the upgrade arrives either way.

Relying on this has one downside. The automatic push happens on Microsoft's schedule, and it often lands at an inconvenient moment, like the morning of a work deadline. Doing it yourself before October 13 means you pick the time, you confirm it worked with winver, and you stay covered by the October security patch and every one after it.

Set aside 20 minutes this week, back up your files, run the steps above, and confirm you see build 26200 when you're done.