If your Windows 10 PC meets the minimum requirements for Windows 11, Microsoft offers you a free upgrade to a newer version of the OS. The version upgrade process is possible directly through Windows Update. Check if the message appears here: “System: Upgrade to Windows 11 is ready and it's free.” You can choose whether you want to “ Download and install Windows 11” or “ Stay on Windows 10 for now”.
At the moment, Microsoft has no plans to force the upgrade of all Windows 10 PCs to Windows 11. But things may change after a while. In this article, we will look at how to force block an upgrade to Windows 11.
If the computer does not have a TPM chip and UEFI+Secure Boot mode is not available, the device is considered unsupported for installing/upgrading to Windows 11. But you can ignore these checks when installing Windows 11.
In Windows 10, you can specify the target version (build) that should be installed on your computer. You will receive the latest security updates for your target version of Windows until the end of support. After the end of support, you need to update the target version, otherwise your Windows will be automatically updated to the latest available build within 60 days.
You can configure the target version with through group policies or through the registry.
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc);
- Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update -> Windows Update for Business ( Computer Configuration - > Administrative Templates - > Windows Components - > Windows Update - > Windows Update for Business );
- Enable the Select the target Feature Update version option (This GPO option is available in Windows 10 2004 and later). In the additional options of the parameter, you need to specify the version of Windows and the build number on which you want to stay;
- Specify Windows 10 in the Which Windows product version would you like to receive feature updates for field;
- Specify the target build of Windows 10 on your computer in the Target Version for Feature Updates field. For example, 21H2;
If you specify a newer version of Windows 10 than you have installed here, the system will be automatically upgraded to the target version. If the target version is deprecated, or lower than the current one, then the value of this policy will be ignored.
- Save your changes and restart your computer to apply the GPO settings.
You can also block the upgrade to Windows 11 through the registry (similar to setting the GPO setting described above). Apply the following REG file on your computer:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"ProductVersion"="Windows 10"
"TargetReleaseVersion"=dword:00000001
"TargetReleaseVersionInfo"="21H2"
You can also create these registry settings manually via regedit.exe, distribute to computers via GPO, or create using PowerShell:
if(!(Test-Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate')){New-Item 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate'}
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate' -Name TargetReleaseVersion -value '00000001' -Type DWord –Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate' -Name "ProductVersion" -value 'Windows 10' -Type String -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate' -Name TargetReleaseVersionInfo -value '21H2' -Type String -Force
Now your computer will block automatic updates to Windows 11. If you decide to upgrade, you need to specify Windows 11 and the number of the current build that you want to target. If you completely disable the GPO setting or delete the registry keys, then your Windows will go into the normal release update cycle.
If your computers receive updates from the internal WSUS update server, you can also simply disable receiving Windows 11 updates in the settings for available products (WSUS console -> Options -> Products and Classifications). Make sure the Windows 11 option is not enabled.
