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- Microsoft has quietly offered Windows 10 users one more year of security updates.
- The company did not provide an explanation for the extension.
- The installed base of Windows 10 PCs is probably already large.
The extension of Microsoft Windows 10 security updates from last year’s official end-of-support date has received another one-year extension.
If you previously signed up for the Windows 10 Extended Program for Security Updates, your due date is automatically extended by one full year. If you own a Windows 10 PC and haven’t signed up for the ESU program, you can do so anytime between now and October 2027. Maybe we can call it It has been extended Extended Program for Security Updates. (For details on the registration process, see “How to get rid of Windows 10 security patches on your PC.”)
Also: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 to Windows 11 – for free
The company released the news in a pair of updates to previously published articles. The official Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) page now announces, in two places, that the program will end on Oct. 12, 2027, two years after Windows 10 support officially stopped. A check of the Internet archive reveals that the update was made sometime in the past 30 days.
There is no indication anywhere on that page that the content has changed.
Meanwhile, a Microsoft spokesperson revealed that an Editor’s note has been added to the end of Microsoft’s blog post urging customers to upgrade to Windows 11 before the end of support for Windows 10:
Editor’s note – June 25, 2026 – This post has been updated to reflect that the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for personal devices is being offered an additional year, and coverage is now available through Oct. 12, 2027. This extension gives customers more time to transition to the new Windows 11 PC while continuing to receive important security updates.
That post was originally published on June 24, 2025. It is over 3000 words long. There is no indication at the top of the page that the schedule has changed in any way or that the post has been updated.
It’s almost as if Microsoft was trying to bury this news on the same day Apple announced a surprise price hike for its flagship products.
But why?
Why is Microsoft shy about what is ultimately a consumer-friendly move?
Reason #1 is that the company really, indeed it doesn’t want to anger its OEM partners, who are already struggling with the near-certainty of declining PC sales as AI-fueled RAM shortages drive prices higher, with no signs of abating.
Also: Why your RAM options cost 4X more now than they did last year
Microsoft depends on those OEM customers — Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, and a host of smaller names, including its Surface division — to buy new Windows licenses for use on new PCs. Encouraging customers to hang on to their old PCs for long flies in the face of that marketing imperative.
Reason #2 is that the number of PCs still running Windows 10 is probably much higher than the execs at Redmond would like. That is a pure educated guess on my part, because Microsoft will not disclose the numbers, but there is a large number of PCs in the installed base that can be upgraded to Windows 11 through the usual channels.
Last January, Microsoft announced that the number of monthly active users of Windows 11 has passed the 1 billion mark. That sounds like good news until you realize that there are over 1.5 billion Windows PCs in total. Even if some 200 million of them have switched to Windows 11, that is still 20% of the installed base that is attached to Windows 10. And a big green number, too: at least 300 million PCs, all of which are destined to fall into the “security cliff” where the end support is, in fact, no play, only.
Also: This free Windows tool shows why my PC is slowing down (and crashes Task Manager)
It doesn’t help that Microsoft publicly admitted that its customers were unhappy with the quality of Windows 11 and promised to “raise the quality bar”. Those improvements are slowly moving down the release pipeline, but most of them are still available in Insider builds and have yet to reach the general public.
Today’s change does not affect Windows for business deployments. Anyone who wants to continue running Windows 10 in a managed environment must pay more for that privilege. ESU business subscriptions are available through Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Program or through Microsoft Cloud Service Provider partners.
Also: Windows security key certificate just expired – how to check your PC
ESU business subscriptions run for a total of three years, until October 2028. Could we see one more consumer extension a year from now? You can bet against it.
