How to Upgrade to Windows 11 Pro: Your Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

To upgrade to Windows 11 Pro from Home, you type a Pro key into Settings, System, Activation, and one restart later your files and apps are still there. People put off this step for months. They picture USB sticks and a weekend of reinstalling. No key yet? The Microsoft Store sells the same upgrade.

• Check that Home shows Active.
• Settings, System, Activation, Change product key.
• Type the Pro key, then Start.
• One restart. Files and apps stay.

Windows checks the key, adds the Pro features and restarts. Your files, apps and settings stay where they are. There’s no reinstall.

The whole switch from Windows 11 Home to Pro takes less time than a lunch break. We cover what to check first, how to do it, and the few things that can go wrong.

Does it need a reinstall

It doesn’t. Home and Pro share the same installation, and Pro simply switches on extra features.

A Pro key entered on the Activation page turns Home into Pro in place. One restart follows. Documents, installed programs, browser data and your user account are all kept.

Only the reverse direction, Pro back to Home, needs a clean install.

That surprises people. They back up everything to an external drive and brace for the worst. Then nothing disappears: same desktop, same apps, same wallpaper. Just a new edition name on the Activation page.

What you need first

• A PC already running an activated copy of Windows 11 Home.
• An administrator account.
• A Windows 11 Pro product key, or a payment method for the Microsoft Store.
• An internet connection, so Windows can verify the key.

A PC that still runs Windows 10 goes to Windows 11 first.

Check where you stand in under a minute:

1. Open Start, Settings, System, Activation.
2. Read the edition at the top, for example “Windows 11 Home”.
3. Look at Activation state. It should say “Active”.
4. Install pending updates under Settings, Windows Update.

If Home isn’t activated, fix that first. Microsoft’s steps assume an activated Home.

A PC on Windows 11 Home in S mode has to leave S mode first. The switch is on the Activation page, through a Microsoft Store page. Leaving S mode is free and one-way.

The Windows 11 hardware requirements

If the PC already runs Windows 11 Home, the hardware passed the check during setup. The Pro change won’t ask again.

The table matters only if you’re coming from Windows 10, or building a new machine. Full details are in our guide to Windows 11 requirements.

Some desktops from around 2018 need a BIOS update before they show TPM 2.0. Nerve-wracking, and it usually works.

Secure Boot has to be supported by the PC. Turning it on is optional for Windows 11. The setting usually sits on the Boot or Security tab of the firmware.

How to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro with a product key

1. Save your work and close open apps. The process ends with a restart.
2. Open Start, Settings, System, Activation.
3. Next to Change product key, select Change.
4. If User Account Control asks, enter an administrator password and select Yes.
5. Type the Windows 11 Pro product key and select Next. It has 25 characters, and the dashes are added for you.
6. Select Start when Windows offers to change your edition. Keep the PC plugged in and online.
7. Let it restart. Sign in, return to the Activation page and check that it says Windows 11 Pro and Active.

Windows verifies the key online, prepares the change and asks for the restart.

From typing the key to seeing the desktop again, it typically takes roughly 20 minutes. Most of that is the restart and a progress screen. Your time will vary with the drive and the connection.

A laptop on battery can refuse to start the process. Plug it in.

Photograph the key or save it somewhere safe before you start. If you ever reinstall Windows on that PC, you may need it again. Digging through old emails at midnight is no fun.

A quick checklist for the day

• Home shows as Active on the Activation page.
• Pending updates are installed.
• The laptop is plugged in.
• The key is copied from the email, not retyped.
• Open work is saved.
• Afterwards: the page reads Windows 11 Pro and Active.
• Afterwards: the key and the order email are filed together.

Through the Microsoft Store

1. Open Settings, System, Activation.
2. Expand “Upgrade your edition of Windows”.
3. Select Open Store next to “Upgrade in the Microsoft app”.
4. Sign in with your Microsoft account and pay for Windows 11 Pro.
5. Follow the prompts to install it, and restart.

The Pro license is then stored as a digital license on that device.

Microsoft calls the Store route the recommended one on its Home to Pro upgrade page. It’s the simplest if you don’t have a key yet.

The other way: a Pro key from a retailer, with the product key steps above. Both end with the same Windows 11 Pro.

If the “Upgrade your edition of Windows” section is missing, the PC is already on Pro, or not activated. Some managed and education setups don’t offer it either.

Upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro: the checks before and after

To upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro on a home PC, we’d use the one supported route. Type a Pro key into Settings. Or buy the very same upgrade in the Store. Microsoft’s edition upgrade table marks Home to Pro as manual key entry only. No MDM. No provisioning package, no command line. A script promising Home to Pro in one line? We’d close that tab.

Two shortcuts save some clicks. Win+R, then one of these:

ms-settings:activation

That opens the Activation page directly. No key yet? This one opens the Store upgrade page:

ms-windows-store://windowsupgrade/

Check the edition from the command line

Want proof in plain text? Terminal as administrator. Then this:

DISM /Online /Get-CurrentEdition

Before the upgrade it says Core. That’s Home’s internal name. After the restart, the Pro name shows instead. One more line lists where this PC can go:

DISM /Online /Get-TargetEditions

Professional on that list? Good, the Pro key will take. Missing? We’d look at S mode or a work account first.

Coming from Windows 10 Home

Two steps, not one. The free upgrade keeps the edition. Windows 10 Home lands on Windows 11 Home, and then we’d add the Pro key on top, exactly as above. Still deciding on the first step? Our Windows 11 vs Windows 10 comparison helps.

Need more than Pro? Home to Pro for Workstations goes the same manual way, with that edition’s key. Worth it? Our Pro for Workstations vs Pro comparison says rarely. For most people we’d stay with the plain Windows 11 Pro key.

Ways to upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro: what Microsoft supports

Searches for a free route, a command or a no-key trick all end at the same table. Microsoft’s edition upgrade page lists exactly two ways for Home to Pro.

Without a key? That’s the Store row. The license then sits on the device as a digital license.

Free? No route from Microsoft. A Windows 10 Pro key you already own counts, though. Lists of “free Pro keys” online are mostly KMS client setup keys. Those activate only against a company KMS server, not on a home PC. Our page on free Windows 10 and 11 keys sorts them out.

Home N follows the same rules. Pro N key, same two routes.

What Windows 11 Pro adds after the upgrade

Business and power-user features, on top of Home.

For the full side-by-side, see Windows 11 Home vs Pro.

Which features to set up first

On a laptop, start with BitLocker. A stolen laptop with no encryption leaks data.

• BitLocker. Type “Manage BitLocker” in Start and open it. Select Turn on BitLocker for drive C. Save the recovery key to your Microsoft account, or print it.
• Remote Desktop. Settings, System, Remote Desktop. Turn it on if you plan to reach the machine from elsewhere.
• Hyper-V and Windows Sandbox. Search “Turn Windows features on or off”, tick them and restart. Virtualization must be enabled in the BIOS or UEFI.
• Group Policy. Press Win+R and run gpedit.msc. Worth a look for update and privacy settings.

Hyper-V and Sandbox only earn their place if you run virtual machines or test software. Sandbox is handy when a vendor’s installer looks dodgy and you’d like to run it somewhere harmless first.

When the upgrade to Windows 11 Pro fails

Most failures come down to the key or the license. Typically the key is for a different edition. Or it was already used on another PC. Or it’s a volume key that won’t activate on a retail install.

Check the exact error code and make sure Home is activated. Stay online, and try again after a restart.

A Windows 10 Pro key generally works here too. The two Pro editions use the same licensing, as in our guide to upgrading Windows 10 Home to Pro.

Activation still refuses? Our article on Windows 11 activation errors lists the common codes and fixes.

Is it worth it in 2026

For anyone who works from the PC, it usually is.

• BitLocker protects a lost laptop.
• Remote Desktop lets you reach your machine from another room or another city.
• Hyper-V or Sandbox keeps test software away from your real system.

For a gaming or family PC that only browses and streams, Home is often enough.

Windows 11 keeps getting yearly feature updates. Pro gets them on the same schedule as Home.

For a new Windows 11 PC, we’d pick Pro from the start and skip this step entirely.

A few small habits that save headaches:

• Do it when you have half an hour, not five minutes between meetings.
• Use a wired connection or stable Wi-Fi. Activation needs to reach Microsoft.
• Keep the key and the order email together in a safe place.
• After the restart, open your main apps once to confirm they all still start.

Need a key? Our Windows 11 Pro key comes as a genuine license. Delivery is instant to email.

Typical problems with the Pro upgrade

The option that wasn’t there

The section for changing the edition is missing from the Activation page. Home had never been activated on that PC. Once Home shows Active, the section appears.

The Enterprise key

A key brought home from the office gets “This product key didn’t work”. Typically a volume key for another edition, Enterprise rather than Pro. A retail Pro key goes through on the first try.

The laptop on battery

The key is accepted, and then nothing happens. A laptop on a low battery can hold the change back. Plugged in, the change starts and finishes with one restart.

Hyper-V nowhere to be found

Pro is active, and Hyper-V won’t install. Virtualization is switched off in the firmware. One setting later, the feature shows up in the list.

S mode

A new budget laptop refuses the key. It runs Home in S mode. After the free switch out of S mode, the same key works.

Two PCs, one afternoon

Two Pro keys, two PCs. Each one takes the same seven steps and one restart. No reinstall on either, and one key per PC.

Windows 11 Home versions this guide covers

The Settings path and the edition change work the same way on each of these.

Related guides

• Should you upgrade to Windows 11: a checklist
• Windows 11 Home vs Pro compared
• Upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro
• Windows 11 activation errors and fixes
• Digital license vs product key