Microsoft has quietly extended its Windows 10 Extended Security Update program by another year, pushing the end date from October 2026 to October 2027.
The company made the change with little public announcement. The program, which offers paid security-only patches for Windows 10 after official support ended in October 2025, was originally set to conclude on October 12, 2026. Microsoft has now updated its policy documentation to reflect an end date of October 12, 2027.
About a quarter of all PCs globally are still running Windows 10, according to analytics firms. Despite Microsoft’s aggressive push for Windows 11 adoption, including hardware compatibility campaigns and the phasing out of updates for older chips, many users and organisations have been unwilling or unable to upgrade. Strict Windows 11 hardware requirements, including TPM 2.0 and specific CPU generations, have left millions of otherwise functional PCs ineligible for the newer operating system.
The extension suggests Microsoft recognises that the migration is taking longer than anticipated. Enterprise customers, in particular, have been slow to transition, citing application compatibility concerns and the cost of hardware refreshes. The paid ESU program, which costs roughly US$61 (approximately £49) per device for the first year, was designed as a bridge, but each extension pushes the final cutoff further into the future.
With Windows 10 having launched in 2015, an October 2027 end date would mean a 12-year support lifespan for Microsoft’s most widely-used operating system, longer than any previous Windows version, and a tacit admission that Windows 11 has not yet proven itself as a compelling enough replacement to drive mass migration.
Sources: Microsoft adds another year to Windows 10 extended update program (Ars Technica, June 25, 2026)