Windows 10 free download: How to get the upgrade now

Microsoft no longer supports Windows 7. If you haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 yet, follow these simple steps now.

Support for Windows 7 ended about a year ago, and Microsoft wants holdouts to upgrade to Windows 10 to keep devices running securely and smoothly. If you have an older PC or laptop still running Windows 7, you can buy the Windows 10 Home operating system on Microsoft’s website for $139 (£120, AU$225). But you don’t necessarily have to shell out the cash: A free upgrade offer from Microsoft that technically ended in 2016 still works for many people. And if you find yourself spending more time at home on your computer due to the coronavirus pandemic, it may be a good time to try it out for yourself.

When Windows 10 was first released in July 2015, Microsoft offered an unprecedented free upgrade offer for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users, good through July 2016. But in 2017, Ed Bott of CNET sister site ZDNet reported that the free upgrade tool was still functional. I tried it out in November 2019, and was able to upgrade a 2014 Dell OptiPlex 9020 desktop from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. As of the end of December 2020, readers are still emailing me and commenting below, saying that it’s worked for them as well.

Windows 7 users who don’t upgrade to the new version will no longer be able to get Microsoft’s security updates or fixes, or technical support for any issues, leaving your computer at greater risk from viruses and malware. While Windows 10 users have experienced a number of bugs over the years, upgrading remains the best option for keeping your computer safe , analysts say. And more people seem to be making the move: Windows 10 now has more than 1 billion active users worldwide, Microsoft reported in March.

Here’s how to get Windows 10 for free, if you’re currently running a licensed and activated copy of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 Home or Pro:

2. Under Create Windows 10 installation media, click Download tool now and Run.

3. Choose Upgrade this PC now, assuming this is the only PC you’re upgrading. (If you’re upgrading a different machine, choose Create installation media for another PC, and save the installation files.)

4. Follow the prompts.

5. When the upgrade is complete, go to Settings Update & Security > Activation, and you should see a digital license for Windows 10.

Microsoft is encouraging Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 10 now support for the former has ended.

It should be noted that if you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, you can only update to Windows 10 Home, while Windows 7 or 8 Pro can only be updated to Windows 10 Pro. (The upgrade is not available for Windows Enterprise. Other users may experience blocks as well, depending on your machine.) This upgrade using the media creation tool isn’t meant for the general consumer, but it works for many nonetheless.

To get the best Windows 10 experience and take advantage of features like passwordless sign-on through Windows Hello , you’ll want to purchase a new Windows 10 PC (or one released after July 2015) with all the hardware upgrades. If you’re a student or university faculty member, you may also be able to download Windows 10 for free (search for your school’s software offerings here).

Stay current on the latest Microsoft news, plus reviews and advice on Windows PCs.

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.NET 5.0 (recommended)

.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET Core 3.1

.NET Core is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET 5.0 (recommended)

.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET Core 3.1

.NET Core is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET Core

.NET Core is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications.

.NET Framework

.NET Framework is a Windows-only version of .NET for building any type of app that runs on Windows.

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8 Safe Websites for Downloading Windows Software

Windows has tons of free software, and of course there are many websites where you can download it. But the problem is that many of these freeware download sites claiming to be the best, bundle the software with custom installers, adware and crapware (Download.com, FileHippo and Softonic are big culprits). Often the developers of the freeware don’t even know that their software is being bundled with all manner of other things.

However, there are still a few websites that don’t bundle crapware with the actual software. The following list are a few safe software download sites where you don’t have to bother with bloat and other bad stuff.

1. Filepuma

Not the biggest repository of PC software, but certainly one of the cleanest and most user-friendly in terms of not foisting advertising or dodgy installers on you, Filepuma is a great option for your software downloads. It has all the mainstream stuff you’d expect – from Skype to Google Drive via Dropbox.

There’s plenty more unique software here too, and it’s all pretty easy to find by using the categories list in the left-hand pane. The most popular software in the various categories is listed on the main page, and that’s pretty much all there is to it. Minimal and elegant, with only a slight bias towards Glarysoft utilities, Filepuma is a nice simple choice for your software downloads.

2. SourceForge

The hugely popular download site makes it into our list after going through something of a turnaround lately. We initially excluded Sourceforge because it had been owned by Dice since 2012, and because of the infamous “DevShare” program bundled its downloads with various other software you probably didn’t want.

SourceForge was sold to BizX in 2016, and since then has not only had a nice new look, but been systematically removing those dodgy installers.

In other words, SourceForge is back to being the great site it once was, if not better.

3. Microsoft.com

If you’re looking for any official Windows software, whether it’s security tools, Microsoft Office, or an ISO for Windows 10 itself, then the official Microsoft site should be the first port of call. You’ll not only find all the software packages you need but also optional updates and hotfixes including the .NET framework, driver kits, and service packs for things like the Microsoft Flight Simulator games. Also, if you need to install older software like Internet Explorer (don’t do it!), you can. Naturally, you shouldn’t expect to find third-party software on the official site. For that, you’ll need to read on.

4. Ninite

Ninite is one of the best free software download sites that provides some popular software like Chrome, VLC, Gimp, Foobar, and Spotify. While using Ninite you don’t have to worry about the bundled crapware, and best of all you can install all the software you want with just a click or two. You don’t have to install each and every software individually; Ninite automatically downloads the latest version and installs it for you.

5. MajorGeeks

MajorGeeks is one of those sites that looks really old with its outdated web design, but it is one of the most reputable free software download sites that doesn’t bundle the actual software in any custom installers and won’t trick you into downloading the crapware. Though the site is maintained by only a couple of geeks, they actually test the software in question for any adware or crapware before listing it on their website.

6. Softpedia

Softpedia is one the biggest and most popular free software download sites where you can find almost any free and paid software you want for multiple platforms. The good thing about Softpedia is that you will always get the latest version of the software you want. Moreover, Softpedia also provides you with software reviews and actual screenshots for almost all the popular and most-used software. If you’ve never used Softpedia, do give it a try.

7. DownloadCrew

DownloadCrew is one of those sites that has a messy user interface where it lists a ton of software right on the homepage with small fonts and stuff. However, while downloading from this site, you don’t have to think about the custom installer crapware. Moreover, you can find software for multiple platforms like Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS.

8. SnapFiles

SnapFiles is yet another freeware download site that doesn’t bundle any crapware whatsoever. One of the best things about SnapFiles is its different categories where you can find the top 100 free software, latest user reviews, top user favorites, top portable apps, etc. Just like any other site on this list, you can easily search for or use different software categories to quickly find your favorite software.

Conclusion

Surely I may have missed some of the other trusted software download sites where you can download applications without having to worry about the custom installers and other crapware. When all is said and done, you should always be careful when you are downloading and installing a software. Moreover, even the sites listed here are not perfect and may be subject to change as time goes on. Being a little careful never hurts.

Do comment below sharing your thoughts and experiences about using the above sites to download free software. Also, share your favorite software download sites that are free from crapware (other than the actual developer sites).

This article was first published in May 2016 and was updated in May 2019.

Vamsi is a tech and WordPress geek who enjoys writing how-to guides and messing with his computer and software in general. When not writing for MTE, he writes for he shares tips, tricks, and lifehacks on his own blog Stugon.

27 comments

I’m surprised that you didn’t list cnet or download.com here. I’ve been using that site for years and have always found it to be one of the safest places to download windows accessories

With download. Com. Much software comes with their download manager which as a tendency to download crapware.
It’s an opt-out system, and I sometimes it dosent remember your choice, plus the setting is buried in the settings page.

Also source Forge has been sold and the new owners are removing the aware installers (slowly but surely)

A good place. For old version is the aptly named http://www.oldversion.com, with a dated interface to match it’s name, it does what it says, providing old versions of many softwares.
Want to see where Firefox started get firebird off oldversion.com
Want Netscape navigator or Mozilla navigator get them at old version
Want a add free version of utorrent get utorrent 2.2.1 off old version

Guess cnet or download.com has changed from what it used to be. Don’t want any nasty’s getting in my computer. And FYI in my opinion torrent sites are real virus magnets as far as I’m concerned. Won’t touch torrent sites on my machines

Until a few years ago I frequently downloaded from cnet,.com and occasionally from download.com with few problems.

More recently, probably starting about 4 to 5 years ago, or maybe more, downloads from both sites began to have hidden and hard to remove crapware. now essentially all downloads from these sites have hidden crapware.

I was a little slow in realizing the change, and paid a high price in much lost time, because of the crapware, which I got from both sites, before I stopped using them. I would never use either now.
Ray

PS. I often now use softpedia, and don’t recall ever getting crapware, or anything unwanted or problematic from softpedia, over the last few years.

These comments are NOT recommendations, just a report of my experiences.

Some days ago, I want a desktop search tool like Google Desktop. I checked all of the above sites and finally found it in SourceForge. The tool called AnyTXT Searcher met my needs. Several other websites have not found the right tools. Most of the software on several other websites is a free version of commercial software. There are many personally developed gadgets on SourceForge that are free and useful. So I recommend SourceForge.

I have used “Filehippo.com” with success many times over the last few years. Lately, they’ve changed some and you have to be careful what you click on to get what you really want.

Softpedia .
I’m surprised.
Sofpedia is on the top of my don’t touch websites.

Should have added: www.freewarefiles.com !!

Absolutely – my fave as well.

For italian user Softstore (http://www.softstore.it) and Softonic (http://www.softonic.it) are the best and the safest.

Site Download.hr (https://www.download.hr/) says that they don’t have any PPI offers and bundles

Very disappointed the soon-to-be de facto method for finding and installing all Windows software https://Chocolatey.org/ got forgotten, or (more likely) hasn’t been discovered by the author yet.

At first I was about to give the benefit of the doubt for this being an old article, but then I noticed it was posted less than a month ago. Sorry but Chocolatey *has* been out for several years, so you have no excuses now. 🙂

Silent installs, automatically de-selects adware and crapware from installers for you, and with Chocolatey 9.10 out now you can research and discover software directly in the command line from a much deeper well (community feed) of awesome free software that doesn’t ever require browsing to a website with a million (virus-riddled) popup ads to get thru.

And now that Chocolatey Pro is finally out you *can* get real automatic virus scanning from VirusTotal.com with over 70 anti-virus engines, and automatic installation abort if more than 5 trigger the installer as “suspicious”. Of course if you’re poor, you could always do the same thing manually for free.

Ninite.exe is the only item in this list that actually manages software, the rest are just websites hosting (sketchy) software. It’s just surprising that Ninite got included and Chocolatey didn’t, when they both perform silent installs (no more downloading installers from websites, no finding the executable in your downloads folder, no clicking thru installer menus), but ninite only focuses on a curated set of about two dozen softwares, while chocolatey has the capability of doing that to any Windows software out there that you’ve already been downloading and installing manually for years.

Best part is the software you’re looking for probably already has a chocolatey package someone made for it. And if not, anyone can build a metadata package for any (license-free) software already out there, and post it to the community feed for all to enjoy.