Download Windows 10

Before updating, please refer to the Windows release information status for known issues to confirm your device is not impacted.

Windows 10 October 2020 Update

The Update Assistant can help you update to the latest version of Windows 10. To get started, click Update now.

Create Windows 10 installation media

To get started, you will first need to have a license to install Windows 10. You can then download and run the media creation tool. For more information on how to use the tool, see the instructions below.

Here’s when to use these instructions:

• You have a license to install Windows 10 and are upgrading this PC from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
• You need to reinstall Windows 10 on a PC you’ve already successfully activated Windows 10.

If you are installing Windows 10 on a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista, or if you need to create installation media to install Windows 10 on a different PC, see Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC section below.

Note: Before you install Windows 10, check to make sure your PC meets the system requirements for Windows 10. We also recommend going to the PC manufacturer’s website for any additional info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.

1. Select Download tool, and select Run. You need to be an administrator to run this tool.
2. On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept.
3. On the What do you want to do? page, select Upgrade this PC now, and then select Next.

After downloading and installing, the tool will walk you through how to set up Windows 10 on your PC. All Windows 10 editions are available when you select Windows 10, except for Enterprise edition. For more information on Enterprise edition, go to the Volume Licensing Service Center.

• If you don’t have a license to install Windows 10 and have not yet previously upgraded to it, you can purchase a copy here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/get-windows-10.
• If you previously upgraded to Windows 10 on this PC and you’re reinstalling it, you don’t need to enter a product key. Your copy of Windows 10 will automatically activate later using your digital license.

When Windows 10 is ready to install, you’ll see a recap of what you’ve chosen, and what will be kept through the upgrade. Select Change what to keep to set whether you would like to Keep personal files and apps, or Keep personal files only, or choose to keep Nothing during the upgrade.

Save and close any open apps and files you may be running, and when you’re ready, select Install.

It might take some time to install Windows 10, and your PC will restart a few times. Make sure you don’t turn off your PC.

Follow these steps to create installation media (USB flash drive or DVD) you can use to install a new copy of Windows 10, perform a clean installation, or reinstall Windows 10.

Before you download the tool make sure you have:

• An internet connection (internet service provider fees may apply).
• Sufficient data storage available on a computer, USB or external drive for the download.
• A blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space or blank DVD (and DVD burner) if you want to create media. We recommend using a blank USB or blank DVD, because any content on it will be deleted.
• When burning a DVD from an ISO file, if you are told the disc image file is too large you will need to use Dual Layer (DL) DVD Media.

Check a few things on the PC where you want to install Windows 10:

• 64-bit or 32-bit processor (CPU). You’ll create either a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows 10. To check this on your PC, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for System type.
• System requirements. Make sure the PC meets the system requirements for Windows 10. We also recommend going to the PC manufacturer’s website for additional info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.
• Language in Windows. You’ll need to choose the same language when you install Windows 10. To see what language you’re currently using, go to Time and language in PC settings or Region in Control Panel.
• Edition of Windows. You should also choose the same edition of Windows. To check what edition you’re currently running, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for Windows edition. Windows 10 Enterprise isn’t available in the media creation tool. For more info, go to the Volume Licensing Service Center.
• Microsoft Office products. If you just purchased a new device that includes Office 365, we recommend redeeming (installing) Office before upgrading to Windows 10. To redeem your copy of Office, please see Download and install Office 365 Home, Personal, or University on your PC. For more information, check How to upgrade to Windows 10 on new devices that include Office 365.

If you have Office 2010 or earlier and choose to perform a clean install of Windows 10, you will need to locate your Office product key. For tips on locating your product key, check Find your Office 2010 product key or Enter the product key for your Office 2007 program.

Using the tool to create installation media:

1. Select Download tool now, and select Run. You need to be an administrator to run this tool.
2. If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.
3. On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10. This table will help you decide which edition of Windows 10 you’ll choose:

Your current edition of Windows	Windows 10 edition
Windows 7 Starter Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Home Premium Windows 7 Professional Windows 7 Ultimate Windows 8/8.1 Windows 8.1 with Bing Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8/8.1 Professional with Media Center Windows 8/8.1 Single Language Windows 8 Single Language with Bing Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro	Windows 10
Windows 8/8.1 Chinese Language Edition Windows 8 Chinese Language Edition with Bing	Windows 10 Home China​

Select which media you want to use:

• USB flash drive. Attach a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.
• ISO file. Save an ISO file to your PC, which you can use to create a DVD. After the file is downloaded, you can go to location where the file is saved, or select Open DVD burner, and follow the instructions to burn the file to a DVD. For more info about using an ISO file, see Additional methods for using the ISO file to install Windows 10 section below.

After the installation media is created, follow the steps below to use it.

After completing the steps to install Windows 10, please check that you have all the necessary device drivers installed. To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and select Check for updates. You may also wish to visit your device manufacturer’s support site for any additional drivers that may be needed.

Note: Drivers for Surface devices may be found on the Download drivers and firmware for Surface page.

Before you install Windows 10, it’s a good idea to save any work and back up your PC before you start. If you used the media creation tool to download an ISO file for Windows 10, you’ll need to burn it to a DVD before following these steps.

1. Attach the USB flash drive or insert the DVD on the PC where you want to install Windows 10.
2. Restart your PC.

If your PC does not automatically boot to the USB or DVD media, you might have to open a boot menu or change the boot order in your PC’s BIOS or UEFI settings. To open a boot menu or change the boot order, you’ll typically need to press a key (such as F2, F12, Delete, or Esc) immediately after you turn on your PC. For instructions on accessing the boot menu or changing the boot order for your PC, check the documentation that came with your PC or go to the manufacturer’s website. If you do not see the USB or DVD media device listed within the boot options, you may need to reach out to the PC manufacturer for instructions for temporarily disabling Secure Boot in your BIOS settings.

If changing the boot menu or order doesn’t work, and your PC immediately boots into the OS you want to replace, it is possible the PC had not fully shut down. To ensure the PC fully shuts down, select the power button on the sign-in screen or on the Start menu and select Shut down.

On the Install Windows page, select your language, time, and keyboard preferences, and then select Next.

Select Install Windows.

If you downloaded an ISO file for Windows 10, the file is saved locally at the location you selected. If you have a third-party DVD burning program installed on your computer that you prefer to use for creating the installation DVD, that program might open by going to the location where the file is saved and double-clicking the ISO file, or right-click the ISO file, select Open with and choose your preferred DVD burning software.

If you want to use the Windows Disk Image Burner to create an installation DVD, go to the location where the ISO file is saved. Right-click the ISO file and select Properties. On the General tab, click Change and select Windows Explorer for the program you would like to use to open ISO files and select Apply. Then right-click the ISO file and select Burn disc image.

If you want to install Windows 10 directly from the ISO file without using a DVD or flash drive, you can do so by mounting the ISO file. This will perform an upgrade of your current operating system to Windows 10.

How to Download Official Windows 10 ISO files Using Media Creation Tool or Directly Using your Web Browser

Technical Level : Basic

Summary
Microsoft has provided instructions how to download the official .ISO files for Windows 10 32 and 64 bit. Read on for instructions how to download ISO media for Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Education.
Details

UPDATE: In order to download ISO’s directly using your web browser, you need to change the User Agent String in your favorite web browser. Learn how in the following article:

UPDATE: Users attempting to create bootable media using the Media Creation Tool, might encounter error message: 0xC18000116 — 0xA0019. Not much information is given as to why this error is happening, but a Microsoft employee on the Microsoft Community, disclosed, the software firm recently refreshed the Windows 10 ISO media; making it a bit larger than 4.7 Gbs.

Users will now have to use either a 8 GB thumb drive or a dual layer DVD to make a bootable copy. If you download a combination of architectures 32 and 64 bit, along with Home and Pro editions, you might need a USB media with 16 GBs of storage.

Please be sure to follow me on Twitter @adacosta for the latest tips, tricks and updates in the world of Windows 10. —

OVERVIEW:

• Which version and edition of Windows 10 is available for download
• Create a bootable copy on a blank DVD or USB thumb drive
• Downloading the Windows 10 ISO using Media Creation Tool
• Downloading the Windows 10 ISO directly Using a Web Browser
• Downloading the Windows 10 Education ISO
• Determine your activation status
• Troubleshooting

Which version and edition of Windows 10 is available for download?

UPDATE: When you use the latest copy of the Media Creation Tool or Microsoft Techbench (linked in this article), it will download Windows 10 build 15063.0 . Users have the choice of selecting Home, Pro or both, 32 and 64 bit architectures or both.

Can I use my Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 product key to install and activate Windows 10?

UPDATE: Previously, Windows 7, Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 users needed to have either of those versions of Windows installed and activated in order to qualify for the free upgrade offer. For persons who needed to perform a clean install of Windows 10 from the outset, it was a two step process of first validating the machine through the upgrade routine, ensure the Windows 10 Upgrade was activated, then proceed to perform a Reset. Starting with the the Windows 10 November Update (1511) and the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, users no longer have to go through this process.

This article discusses multiple ways you can download and create a bootable copy of Windows 10. If you experience difficulties downloading Windows 10 setup files using one method; please scroll down further in this article for instructions how to use an alternative method.

This article also contains instructions further down for how to download Windows 10 Education using your issued product key from your institution of higher learning.

Downloading the Windows 10 ISO using Media Creation Tool

If you need to install or reinstall Windows 10, you can use the tools on this page to create your own installation media using either a USB flash drive or a DVD.

Right click the MediaCreationTool.exe file then click Run as administrator.

Accept the End User License Agreement:

Select the option Upgrade this PC now if you want to upgrade right away,

Select the option Create installation media for another PC if you want to download a ISO image or create a bootable DVD or USB thumb drive,

Click Next

If you want to download a particular edition or both architectures, uncheck the Use the recommended option for this PC.

Click in the Edition list box, choose your edition then click Next.

• Windows 10 — contains Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro.
• Windows 10 Home Single Language — only select this edition if you are running Windows 10 Single Language, Windows 8 Single Language or Windows 8.1 with Bing.
• Windows 10 N — only select this edition if you reside in Europe , it does not contain Windows Media Player. It contains Windows 10 Home N, Windows 10 Pro N.

Click in the list box and select your architecture or choose both if you have a thumb drive big enough (16 GBs recommended), click Next to start the download.

Please note: The copy of Windows 10 you download and upgrade from will correspond with the edition of Windows you have installed, the architectures will correspond too (32 bit > 32 bit, 64 bit > 64 bit):

• Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Windows 8.0 Core, Windows 8.1 Core, Windows 10 Home will install Windows 10 Home
• Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8.0 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 10 Pro will install Windows 10 Pro
• Windows 10 Education will install Windows 10 Education

• Your currently installed copy of Windows must be activated . If it is not, you will be prompted to enter a genuine product key
• You should perform an inplace upgrade, but you can perform a clean install using the latest November Update or later. Learn more HERE
• If you are using Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8.0 Enterprise, Windows 8.1 Enterprise editions, or volume license Windows 7 Professional you won’t be able to use the Media Creation Tool to upgrade.

I suggest you choose the .ISO file option, since you can reuse it for multiple options. Click Next

Creating a Bootable USB Flash Drive USB flash drive

If you have a thumb drive with 8 GBs of available space, you can use that to create a bootable copy. Thumb drives are very cheap these days, so pick up a couple and create one as your first backup option. This is especially recommended for persons using Ultrabooks, which do not include optical drives (DVD) or Netbooks. There are some desktop systems that do not include one. If you selected both architectures, choose a thumbdrive that is at least 16 GBs in size.

Select the USB thumb drive then click Next. Please note, the contents of the drive will be formatted, if you have any important files, cancel, then back them up.

Wait while the install files are downloaded and the bootable copy is created on your USB thumb drive.

Downloading the ISO file

An ISO file is a digital or virtual replica of a physical disc. In order to use an ISO you must burn it to a optical disc. In the case of Windows 10, a blank Dual Layer DVD or an empty USB thumb drive. If you are using Windows 7, you can create the .ISO then burn it using the built in Disc Image utility. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can using a third party burning tool such as ImgBurn or Roxio/Nero.

Creating a .ISO file

For the purposes of this exercise, we are gonna use the .ISO option.

Select ISO file, then click Save, Select your location then click Save.

Wait while the .ISO image is created.

Downloading the ISO file directly using your web browser:

If you are unable to download the ISO’s, remember to review:

Click in the list box then select your language then click confirm and wait while the option is validated. Do not refresh the page.

Click your desired architecture then click save.

Follow the instructions to use either the Microsoft .iso to USB/DVD tool , Rufus or the Disc Image burning utility in Windows 7 or later to prepare the .ISO file. You can also mount the .ISO file in Windows 8 or later then perform an upgrade.

Make Windows 10 ISO file bootable on blank DVD or USB thumb drive

After you downloading the Windows 10 ISO, you need prepare it, this is especially important for Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows.

After obtaining the .iso file you can use the built in Disc Image burning tool or Microsoft .iso to USB/DVD tool to create a bootable DVD or USB (requires a blank DVD) or Rufus, a third party program that can create a bootable USB flash stick (requires at least 8 GBs).

After downloading the .ISO file, right click it and click Burn disc image

Insert a blank DVD

Windows 8/8.1 users can mount the .ISO file then start the upgrade automatically. Learn more here

Important:

If you are creating a bootable USB thumb drive, make sure the thumb drive is first formatted as FAT32.

Connect the thumb drive

Right click thumbdrive

Make sure FAT32 is selected as the file system.

For UEFI based systems

If your computer is UEFI based, these are normally systems that come pre-loaded with Windows 8 or later, you will need to prepare the ISO file for such a configuration or you will receive an error message during setup. The thumb drive needs to be formatted as FAT32. If you are installing on a hard disks that is 4 TBs or more in size, you need to format the disk using the GPT partitioning scheme. Rufus ensures your copy of Windows 10 is properly prepared to support it.

After downloading Rufus, connect your thumb drive, launch Rufus application, click in the Device list box then choose your thumb drive.

Click in the list box then choose your partition scheme. If you select the ISO, Rufus will automatically select the appropriate options for you. Next, click in the File system list box, then choose FAT32. If your thumb drive is larger than 32 GBs, choose exFAT.

Leave the default Cluster size then enter a label for your thumb drive.

Click the choose disk image icon, browse to where the ISO file is located, select it then click Open.

Click Start to copy the files to the thumb drive.

If you have any files on the thumb drive, they will be deleted.

Wait while the files are copied to your thumb drive.

Close when complete

Open File Explorer, then launch setup to begin the installation.

Download Windows 10 Education ISO files

If you attend a college or university, your institution might provide you with the Education edition of Windows 10. If you are only provided with a license (product key), you can download the .ISO file from the Microsoft Download Academic Products website.

Scroll down then enter your Windows 10 Education product key, then click verify

How do I check my activation status after upgrading?

Click Start > Settings (press Windows key + i) > Update & security > Activation