Microsoft Just Released a Free Key for Windows 10 Pro

Microsoft recently released a free Windows 10 Pro product key. Confused as to what it does and how you can take advantage of it? Then this post is for you.

If you’re running version 1511 of Windows 10 Home on a PC, the freely available product key (VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T) allows you to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. It does not give you a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. It just unlocks the Pro edition and initiates the system upgrade from Home to Pro.

You’ll still need to activate the Pro edition by purchasing a license from the Windows store. Until you do this, you’ll face some limitations like unavailable features, grayed out settings, and watermarks.

Just clean #installed #Windows 10 Pro 1511 on my #Acer laptop. It was a messy #upgrade path (#Vista Business -> 7 Pro -> 10 Pro) originally

— Liam B (@LiamBramwell) December 29, 2015

The good news is that if you have a product key for the Pro edition of previous Windows versions, say Windows 7 or Windows 8, that same key can also take you from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro. In this case, the upgrade is free and saves you about a hundred dollars.

Note that you’ll need to have the November Update (version 1511) of Windows 10 Home installed for the public product key to work. And here’s where you can change the key: Settings > Update & security > Activation > Change product key.

The Windows 10 Pro edition gives you extra features like Bitlocker Drive Encryption and finer control over Windows Update. Don’t be discouraged if the upgrade takes quite a bit of time. That’s to be expected.

Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, version 1511, 10586 It does take an absolute age @aktovate1 Still running on my laptop

— Andrew (@akkw1803) December 1, 2015

Have you used the free product key released by Microsoft? Did it work for you? Tell us in the comments.

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