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Windows 10 PCs can receive free security updates until October 2027.
To qualify for free personal updates, enroll with a Microsoft account.
Customers in any of the 30 EEA countries automatically qualify.
This month's Windows updates will be delivered automatically on the second Tuesday of the month, aka Patch Tuesday. Unless you have a PC running Windows 10. Support for that operating system has officially ended, and any PC running Windows 10 with its default settings will no longer receive those critical monthly security updates from the Windows Update servers.
But don't start shopping for a replacement PC just yet, as Microsoft offers options that allow you to continue receiving those security updates until October 2027, two full years after the original end-of-support date. The original program was supposed to end in October 2026, but the company quietly extended that deadline by a full year. The new end date is Oct. 12, 2027.
Also: How to upgrade your 'incompatible' Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 - for free
When Microsoft first announced the availability of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 11, the subscription came with a $30 price tag. Thankfully, someone in Redmond realized that owners of tens of millions of consumer PCs running Windows 10 aren't ready to replace their old computers, and those customers are also not about to fork over $30 for an ESU subscription. So, a few months before the end-of-support date, the company announced new "free enrollment options" for the ESU program.
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