Windows 11 24H2 Home and Pro Lose Updates on 13 October

Windows 11 version 24H2 stops getting security updates on 13 October 2026 on Home and Pro PCs, Microsoft’s release health pages say. Check your version under Settings › System › About; if it says 24H2, install version 26H2 from Windows Update, which Microsoft supports on Home and Pro until 10 October 2028.

Most home PCs will not need to be asked. Microsoft says Home and Pro PCs on 24H2 that no IT department manages get version 25H2 automatically, with the restart left to you.

What stops on 13 October

From Microsoft’s 24H2 status page: devices on those editions “will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats.” The security updates are the loss that matters for a PC that goes online.

Microsoft’s own pages differ by a day here. The Lifecycle page lists 14 October 2026 for 24H2 Home and Pro; the release information table and the 24H2 status page both say 13 October. We use the 13th, the date Microsoft gives on the page about 24H2 itself. The same day, Office 2021 stops getting security fixes, with the same one-day disagreement between Microsoft’s pages.

The rule behind every date: each annual version gets 24 months of updates on Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations, and 36 months on Enterprise and Education.

Every current version and when it ends

Version	Released	Home and Pro updates end	Enterprise and Education updates end
26H2	29 Sep 2026	10 Oct 2028	9 Oct 2029
26H1 (new devices only)	10 Feb 2026	14 Mar 2028	13 Mar 2029
25H2	30 Sep 2025	12 Oct 2027	10 Oct 2028
24H2	1 Oct 2024	13 Oct 2026	12 Oct 2027
23H2	31 Oct 2023	Already ended	10 Nov 2026

Dates are from Microsoft’s Windows 11 release information table. Its Lifecycle pages give a date one day later for 25H2 and 26H1 as well.

Check which version you have

1. Right-click Start and choose Settings.
2. Select System, then About.
3. Under Windows specifications, read Edition and Version.

Typing winver into the taskbar search box and opening the result shows the version too. The same About page lists installed RAM, the first number you need for checking how much memory your laptop can really take.

Version says	What it means for a Home or Pro PC
24H2	Updates end 13 October 2026. Move to 25H2 or 26H2
25H2	Supported until 12 October 2027. 26H2 is optional for now
26H2	Supported until 10 October 2028. Nothing to do
26H1	Supported until 14 March 2028. 26H2 is not offered to it
23H2 or earlier	Already out of updates. Update now

If the Edition line says Enterprise or Education, the right-hand column of the first table applies, and 24H2 has until 12 October 2027. If the About page says Windows 10 instead, a different clock applies: paid or free Extended Security Updates, now to October 2027.

Move to 26H2

From 24H2 or 25H2, Microsoft delivers 26H2 as an enablement package: a small download that switches on features already installed by monthly updates, followed by one restart.

1. Open Settings › Windows Update.
2. Turn on Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available. Microsoft says this puts you among the first to be offered 26H2.
3. Select Check for updates. When your PC is eligible, an option to download and install Windows 11, version 26H2 appears.

If it does not appear yet, the rollout may not have reached your PC. Microsoft is releasing 26H2 in phases that “will expand over the next few months”, and places safeguard holds on PCs where it detects a known compatibility issue. Taking 25H2 when Windows Update offers it also keeps you covered, to 12 October 2027.

Microsoft’s Windows Update Assistant installs the latest feature update by hand on a PC that has not received it, but Microsoft says it does not run on Arm-based PCs.

Two exceptions: 26H1 and the oldest Arm laptops

Version 26H1 is not an upgrade for your current PC. Microsoft built it for select new devices, the first with Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processors, and does not offer it as an in-place update from 24H2 or 25H2.

A laptop that shipped with 26H1 cannot move to 26H2, because 26H1 sits on a different Windows core; Microsoft says such devices “will have a path to update in a future Windows release”. If you are looking at one of these machines, our explainer on what the NPU in them does covers the spec those laptops sell on.

Two older groups reach the end of the line. Microsoft’s Lifecycle page says 26H2 is the last version for devices with a Snapdragon 850 processor, which puts their end of updates at 10 October 2028, and that 24H2 was the last supported version of Windows 11 SE, leaving SE devices no newer version to move to.

For a Snapdragon 850 laptop, that is two years to plan a replacement, and our laptop shortlist is a starting point.

Questions people ask

When does Windows 11 24H2 end support?

For Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations, on 13 October 2026, according to Microsoft’s release health pages. Its Lifecycle page lists 14 October. Enterprise and Education editions of 24H2 are supported until 12 October 2027.

How do I know if I have Windows 11 24H2?

Right-click Start, choose Settings, then System and About. Under Windows specifications, the Version line says 24H2, 25H2 or 26H2. Typing winver into the taskbar search box shows the same thing.

Will Windows 11 24H2 update itself to a newer version?

On most home PCs, yes. Microsoft says Home and Pro PCs on 24H2 that no IT department manages get 25H2 automatically, and you can pick when to restart or postpone it. You can also install 26H2 yourself from Windows Update.

Should I install Windows 11 25H2 or 26H2?

Either keeps you supported. 26H2 runs longer: Home and Pro get updates until 10 October 2028, against 12 October 2027 for 25H2. From 24H2, both arrive as small updates that need one restart.

Why is Windows 11 26H2 not showing up in Windows Update?

Microsoft is rolling it out in phases over the next few months and holds it back from PCs with a known compatibility problem. A PC on 26H1 cannot take it at all, because 26H1 is built on a different Windows core.

What happens if I stay on Windows 11 24H2 after October 13?

Microsoft stops sending it monthly security and preview updates, fixes for known issues and time zone updates, and stops technical support for it. Microsoft’s 24H2 page lists those losses; moving to 25H2 or 26H2 restores all of them.