Microsoft is closing the door on Home windows 10 in October 2025, and will likely be ceasing safety assist for that working system except customers pay $30 for a one-year prolonged safety replace. Now, Microsoft has added a free possibility. Customers have to activate cloud backup and join it to their OneDrive account.
The power to get free updates on Home windows 10 is a reasonably large deal as a result of it’s nonetheless probably the most extensively used Home windows OS, accounting for simply over 53% of installs as of Might 2025. That leaves tens of millions of individuals with out safety assist in only a few months except they improve. So the cloud backup possibility provides customers a manner out with out costing them any cash.
The one potential problem is OneDrive. Anybody with a Microsoft account will get as much as 5GB of storage without cost. Nevertheless, as The Verge factors out, some backups could exceed this limitation, requiring customers to buy a month-to-month or yearly plan. At $1.99 monthly for 100GB of cloud storage, a yr of OneDrive nonetheless prices lower than the $30 for a yr of extra safety updates, but it surely nonetheless could trigger frustration amongst some customers.
Home windows 10 was launched in July 2015, greater than a decade in the past.
Microsoft will likely be rolling out the ESU wizard in July 2025.
get Home windows 10 safety updates without cost
Per Microsoft’s weblog publish, there are actually three choices for individuals who wish to keep on Home windows 10 and nonetheless obtain safety updates.
Customers will likely be offered with these choices beginning in July, which is when Microsoft plans to roll out the sign-up wizard for the Prolonged Safety Updates program. Signing up for this feature will assure updates till Oct. 13, 2026, though companies can have the choice to buy as much as three years of extra updates. So, this is not a long-term answer, however slightly provides shoppers extra time to improve to Home windows 11.
It has been an uphill battle for Microsoft as folks have been resilient in upgrading their present {hardware}. There are myriad variations between the 2 working methods, however Microsoft’s string of unpopular selections together with Home windows 11 compatibility points have stored the prior era OS round lots longer than it usually could be.
