How to upgrade your Windows 10 to windows 11 safely

After the Windows 11 announcement, Windows 11 Preview Build 22000.51 is finally here in the Dev channel. At Microsoft’s Windows event, the Redmond giant unveiled the next generation of Windows. It is rightly called Windows 11, successor to the company’s most popular Windows 10 OS. Windows 11 is all about visual changes, and Windows fans are waiting with bated breath to try out the new OS. Not anymore. So we have put together a simple guide to help you upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10. We have also mentioned the steps to clean install Windows 11 on any PC. Now if you are excited to try out Windows 11, follow our guide below.

Upgrade to Windows 11 From Windows 10: A Step-by-Step Guide (2021)

If you are on Windows 10, you can follow this guide to install Windows 11 on your computer without any hassles. And for advanced users, we have also added instructions for Windows 11 clean installation through the ISO image.

Install Windows 11 on Your Windows 10 PC

If you are on Windows 10 and want to test out Windows 11, you can do so right away, and the process is pretty straightforward. Moreover, your files and apps won’t be deleted, and your license will remain intact. In case you want to roll back to Windows 10 from Windows 11, you can do that as well. Now having said all of that, let’s begin.

1. For Windows 10 users who want to install Windows 11, you first need to join the Windows Insider Program. Click on this link and register yourself. You should have a Microsoft account to register for Windows Insider Program. If you don’t have one, create one on the same webpage.

2. After creating an online Microsoft account, you need to link the Microsoft account to your Windows 10 PC. Basically, if you were using a local account on your Windows 10 PC, you will have to move to the online account. Don’t worry, this won’t delete anything. To do so, open Settings and go to “Accounts”. Here, click on the “Sign in with a Microsoft account instead” option.

3. Now, enter the same Microsoft account details you used to register for Windows Insider Progam and sign in.

4. Once you have moved to an online account, navigate to “Update & Security” from the Settings page. Here, switch to “Windows Insider Program” and click on “Get Started”.

Note: If you get an error relating to Diagnostic data, move to “Settings -> Privacy -> Diagnostics and feedback -> Turn on Optional diagnostic data”.

5. Choose your Microsoft account and then pick the “Dev Channel” as Windows 11 is being currently rolled out to users in this channel only. Now, confirm it. Note that builds in the Dev channel may have several bugs, but in my experience so far, Windows 11 has been pretty solid.

6. Now, switch to the “Windows Update” menu and click on “Check for updates”.

7. It will take some time, so keep patience. Finally, you will receive Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.51 update on your Windows 10 PC. Click on “Download“.

8. Now, depending on your internet speed and PC hardware, Windows 11 installation will take anywhere between 1-2 hours. Your PC will reboot several times during the installation.

9. Once the update is complete, your PC will boot to Windows 11 Preview Build 22000.51 with a new startup sound, new Start Menu (by the way, you can switch back to Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows 11), excellent Windows 11 wallpapers, and a completely revamped UI. All your programs, files, and license will remain intact on Windows 11. Enjoy the new version of Windows on your PC.

Clean Install Windows 11 on Any PC

Not everyone wants to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 mainly because of unknown installation errors and slow performance due to carried-over files. So if you are an advanced user and want to clean install Windows 11 on your PC, we need to get back to the bootable method. Note that, by clean install, I don’t mean erasing all of your partitions and files. This method will only wipe the C drive, including files and programs stored within the C drive.

1. First and foremost, download the official Windows 11 ISO build from Microsoft’s website. Currently, the Windows 11 Insider Preview 22000.51 build is not available to download, but keep an eye on the official software download page to download the ISO image.

2. Next, you need to download Rufus (Free) which lets you create a bootable Windows 11 USB thumb drive. If you find Rufus needlessly complex, you can head over to our list of best Rufus alternatives.

3. Now, launch Rufus and click on “Select“, and choose the Windows 11 ISO image. Plug in your USB thumb drive and Rufus will automatically pick the device. I would recommend running Rufus on the same PC where you wish to install Windows 11. This allows Rufus to automatically pre-select the correct values based on your system configuration.

4. To steer clear of any GPT/ MBR errors during the installation process, I would suggest you check the partition scheme beforehand. On the PC where you want to install Windows 11, press the “Windows + X” keyboard shortcut and open “Disk Management”. Here, right-click on “Disk 0” and open “Properties”. If you intend to install Windows 11 on another disk (Disk 1 or 2, make sure to select that disk. Then, switch to “Volumes” and check the “Partition style”, whether it’s GPT or MBR. For example, mine is GPT.

5. So on Rufus, I have selected “GPT” under “Partition scheme“. You need to choose the partition scheme accordingly. Finally, keep everything as default and click on “START”.

6. Once the flashing process is complete, keep the USB thumb drive plugged in if you want to install Windows 11 on the same PC. Now, restart your computer, and while the computer boots up, start pressing the boot key continuously.

Note: On HP laptops, pressing the “Esc” key during startup brings up the Startup menu. For other laptops and desktops, you will have to look for the boot key on the Internet. It should be one of these: F12, F9, F10, etc.

7. Then, Press “F9” (the key can be different for your laptop/desktop) to open “Boot Device Options. Here, select the thumb drive and hit enter.

8. You will now boot into the Windows 11 installer setup. Now follow this instruction path, click on Next -> Install Now -> I don’t have a product key -> Select Windows 11 edition -> Custom. If you had Windows activated earlier, the “product key” and “Windows 11 edition page” might not appear. They will be pre-selected by the installer itself based on your earlier configuration.

9. Now, identify the “C” drive partition based on the drive size and click on “Next” to install Windows 11 on your PC. This will only wipe your C drive (including programs and files from Desktop, My Documents, Downloads — all within C drive) and will not touch other partitions.

10. After the installation process, your PC will reboot. This time, remove the USB thumb drive, and you will be greeted with Windows 11’s brand new onboarding setup.

11. During the installation, if you are using Windows 11 Home, you can also create an offline account through Sign-in Options -> Offline Account -> Limited experience. For other editions, you can choose not to connect to a Wi-Fi network.

12. There you go! You have successfully installed Windows 11 Preview Build 22000.51 on your computer. Now, go ahead and try out all the new UI elements, centered start menu, new Microsoft Store, widgets, enhanced action center, and much more.

Install Windows 11 on Any Computer in a Few Easy Steps

So that is how you can upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 through the Insider Program. We have also mentioned a clean way to install Windows 11 without buying a new license key. Anyway, that is all from us. If you get any kind of error related to TPM, Secure Boot, etc., during the Windows 11 installation process, let us know in the comment section below. We will definitely try to help you out.

Windows 11: All New Features, New UI, Android App Support, Everything You Should Know About this ?

Microsoft has announced Windows 11, the next generation of Windows at its dedicated event today. Codenamed Sun Valley, we have seen a lot of potential features Microsoft is likely to introduce with the next iteration of Windows over the past few months. Now that you’ve seen all the Windows features at the event, you must be itching to try out Windows 11. Will you have to pay for Windows once again? We will discuss everything, including the Windows 11 name, release date, new features, and much more.

Windows 11: Everything We Know So Far (2021)

Windows 11: New Name?

In a surprising turn of events, it seems like Microsoft would call the upcoming Windows 10 Sun Valley (21H2) update “Windows 11”, moving away from its previous stance of making Windows 10 the last version of the operating system. There are multiple hints that point towards Microsoft using this name for its next big update. The first hint comes from none other than Microsoft. As you can see in the event announcement tweet below, the Redmond giant chose not to add horizontal lines for shadows in the logo. The horizontal lines were present in a similar image the company posted to its Instagram in the past.

Join us June 24th at 11 am ET for the #MicrosoftEvent to see what’s next. https://t.co/kSQYIDZSyi pic.twitter.com/Emb5GPHOf0

— Windows (@Windows) June 2, 2021

Another strong hint comes from reputable tipster Evan Blass. Blass took to Twitter to share a tweet hinting that the new update will indeed be called Windows 11. Check out that tweet below. Going by these, it’s safe to assume that Microsoft would call the next update – Windows 11.

From the “Don’t take screenshots of this build” department: a forthcoming Microsoft OS called Windows 11.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 3, 2021

And in a solid confirmation, a recently leaked Windows build clearly shows the Windows 11 branding. From this, you can rest assured that Microsoft will announce Windows 11 next week.

Windows 11: Release Date

We could expect Microsoft to announce the release date of Windows 11 at its event next week. The event is scheduled for June 24 at 11:00 AM ET, which translates to 8:00 AM PT or 8:30 PM IST. Microsoft may release an Insider preview build soon after the event to give early adopters a taste of its next-gen desktop OS. We could expect a stable release sometime in October 2021.

Windows 11: Complete Timeline

In case you are curious about the availability of Windows 11, here’s a complete timeline for the upcoming update:

• Windows 11 Launch Date – Microsoft has announced the next Windows update, Windows 11, on June 24.
• Windows 11 Insider Preview Release Date – Microsoft will release Windows 11 for Insiders next week. Insiders in the Dev Channel will be the first to get a taste of the new design overhaul.
• Windows 11 Stable Update Release Date – Microsoft usually rolls out the second Windows 10 update in October each year. We could expect the company to follow this approach and start rolling out Windows 11 for all users in October.

Windows 11 Price: Will Windows 10 Users Get Free Windows 11 Upgrade?

If Microsoft goes on to release Windows 11, the most important question would be – What happens to the existing Windows 10 users? Well, going by history, we could expect Microsoft to offer free upgrades for current Windows 10 users. Moreover, the folks at XDA Developers have found evidence suggesting that Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users will be able to upgrade to Windows 11 for free. For the specifics of this transition, we will have to wait for the Windows event later this month.

The Redmond giant adopted the Windows-as-a-service delivery method to reach more users and make it simpler to deploy the latest updates to everyone back in 2015. It offered free upgrades to Windows 10 for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. This has enabled Microsoft to have over 1 billion active Windows 10 users around the world.

Windows 11: Top New Features

We recently wrote an article rounding up all the features you could expect from Windows 10 Sun Valley (21H2) update, which will arrive as Windows 11. You can check out that detailed article to know all the new expected features in the update. Here, we will be highlighting the top features in Microsoft’s next major Windows update.

Android Apps on Windows

Windows 11 will support Android apps through Microsoft Store, thanks to Microsoft’s partnership with Amazon. The feature is powered by Intel Bridge technology and you can directly access Android apps from Start Menu and taskbar. This means you no longer have to rely on Android emulators for Windows to use Android apps on your Windows PC.

Redesigned Settings App

Microsoft is redesigning the Settings app with Windows 11. It should look somewhat much cleaner, like what you see in the image below. The screenshot here originates from an Italian tech blog (taken down now) and was reshared on Windows 10 subreddit. Take a look at it below:

Image Courtesy: Reddit/u/Pulagatha

As you can see, Microsoft is tweaking the Settings app to include colorful icons for key options. Notably, Microsoft has placed all the main options towards the left of the app, which in turn acts as a sidebar. This way, you can quickly jump between all the various Settings options without having to come back to the primary screen. The Settings redesign is not live in the leaked build, so you will have to wait until June 24 to get a better look at the changes.

UI Revamp with Rounded Corners

As part of Microsoft’s visual rejuvenation of Windows, the company will add rounded corners for UI components across the operating system. Microsoft has even implemented a floating start menu, similar to the now-defunct Windows 10X. Take a look at the new Windows 11 Start Menu below:

Windows 11 Start Menu Light Mode

Windows 11 Start Menu Dark Mode

As you can see in the images above, the taskbar is centered by default on Windows 11. However, if you prefer having the Start Menu at the left corner, you can do that too. Go to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar -> Taskbar alignment and choose “Left” if that’s what you are used to.

Also new with Windows 11 update is improved Widgets, Task View, and Windows Search. As of now, Windows 11’s widgets section features the news and interests widget that’s already available on Windows 10. But you now have a dedicated section for widgets, so it will be quite interesting to see if other developers build widgets for Windows in the future.

 Windows 11 Task View

A minor yet useful change with Windows 11 worth pointing out is the new snap assist functionality. Going forward, Windows will let you choose the exact placement of the window while you are maximizing it. You simply need to hover your cursor over the maximize button to see the new snap assist window. That should greatly help improve the multitasking experience on Windows 11.

Snap Assist built into the maximize button in Windows 11

New Wallpapers and Startup Sound

Speaking of other improvements, Microsoft has added new wallpapers and a new startup sound (among other sounds) on Windows 11. You can download Windows 11 wallpapers and hear the new startup sound from our linked articles. The startup sound seems to be inspired by the now-canceled Windows 10X build.

New Action Center

With Windows 10X, Microsoft redesigned the Action Center and improved its design and functionality. For instance, you don’t have to open the Settings page to switch Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth devices on Windows 10X. Instead, you can expand these menus without leaving the Action Center. That is a huge usability improvement, and now that Microsoft has officially canceled Windows 10X, we could expect a similar implementation on Windows 11. Meanwhile, go through our articles on the best Windows 10X features and check out our guide to run Windows 10X on your PC to explore the OS.

New Action Center on Windows 10X

Coming to notifications, they will now stack in a separate section above the quick settings panel. Moreover, there will be a “Clear All” button to dismiss all pending notifications. Microsoft may even add a dashboard in the Task View to keep track of your Microsoft account and upcoming events. The new action center was not available in the leaked #21996 build.

Redesigned Microsoft Store

Microsoft refreshed the Xbox store in August last year and is preparing a refresh to the Microsoft Store. If a recent report from Windows Central is anything to go by, the new Microsoft Store will flaunt a modern interface and be more open to users and developers.

According to the report, the new Store will let developers submit unpacked Win32 apps, host apps & updates on their own content delivery network (CDN), and make it possible for developers to use third-party commerce platforms in apps. These are all exciting changes from a developer’s perspective and should hopefully make Microsoft Store the one-stop destination for all apps.

Windows 11: The Future of Windows

So, that’s all we know about Windows 11 ahead of the release. The announcement is merely a week away and we will learn all the new features at the upcoming event. At the moment, all the hints point towards a major revamp for Microsoft’s desktop OS and Windows 11 rebranding. We will have to wait and see if all the hype and anticipation results in increased adoption for Microsoft’s next major version of Windows or not. What are your expectations from Windows 11? Let us know in the comments below.

When Will My PC Get Windows 11 Update?

Microsoft announced Windows 11 at its event last night, and you might be wondering if you can install Windows 11 on your PC right away. If the answer is yes, when will you be able to get your hands on all the cool new Windows 11 features? That’s exactly what we will be clarifying in this article.

Windows 11 Update Timeline (June 2021)

Before we begin, it’s worth mentioning that you can go through the official system requirements for Windows 11 or check if your PC can run Windows 11 through the new PC Health Check app. If your PC is eligible, here’s when you will get the Windows 11 update.

When to Expect Windows 11 Update for Insiders

Microsoft has revealed that it will release the first Insider Preview build for Windows 11 next week. If you are interested in getting an early taste of Windows 11, sign up for the Insider program from “Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Insider Program” right away. Having said that, proceed with caution as you may run into bugs and crashes since it is not entirely stable. We suggest you install the preview build on a secondary PC.

If your PC meets the hardware requirements, you will get the Insider build as soon as Microsoft rolls it out. In addition, Microsoft will let users test Windows 11 even if their system doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, as long as the user is already in the Dev Channel. However, these users are likely to face more random issues here and there.

Image Courtesy: Microsoft

More importantly, this rollout is limited to Windows 11 Insider builds. Microsoft will not roll out the stable Windows 11 to devices that don’t meet the minimum specification requirements. While you can test Windows 11 on your outdated PC, you will no longer receive updates when the stable Windows 11 build is out. Hence, you will have to move back to Windows 10 after the initial testing phase.

When to Expect Windows 11 Stable Update

Coming to the stable Windows 11 release date, Microsoft officially announced that the Windows 11 update rollout is scheduled to start in late 2021. The upgrade process will continue into 2022. As is the case with all Windows updates, it might take a while until Windows 11 reaches your PC.

And for those planning to purchase new Windows PCs, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer Panos Panay says that the company has partnered with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Surface, and other brands to ensure that most PCs or laptops you buy today are ready for Windows 11. Microsoft recommends looking for PCs that indicate they are eligible for the free upgrade or check with your retailer to be sure. You can always use the PC Health check app to ensure eligibility.

Get Windows 11 on your PC

So, that’s when you will get Windows 11 on your PC. If your PC passes the eligibility check, you can rest assured that you will get the update later this year or in early 2022. You can go through our Windows 11 article to know all the new features coming to Microsoft’s next-gen desktop operating system.