Windows 11 24H2 End of Support: Why 25H2 Is Now Installing Itself

Windows 11, version 24H2 Home and Pro officially reached end of support on October 13, 2026 — the same day as October 2026 Patch Tuesday — which means those editions no longer receive monthly security updates. To keep unmanaged consumer and small-business PCs protected, Microsoft has Windows Update automatically start installing Windows 11, version 25H2 on eligible 24H2 devices as they approach or pass that cutoff. You cannot refuse the update outright, but you can postpone it in 35-day blocks through Settings, or trigger it yourself right now if you would rather get it over with.

Why Windows 11 24H2 support ended on October 13, 2026

Windows 11 feature updates follow a fixed servicing clock set at release. Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations editions get 24 months of support from general availability; Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise multi-session editions get 36 months. Windows 11, version 24H2 shipped on October 1, 2024, which put its Home/Pro servicing clock at October 13, 2026 — Microsoft's Windows 11 release information page now lists 24H2 Home, Pro, Pro Education, and Pro for Workstations as simply "End of updates," full stop.

The date lines up exactly with October 2026's Patch Tuesday, which Microsoft shipped as its largest cumulative update batch to date. That update — KB5127648 — is the last security update 24H2 Home and Pro devices will ever receive. Anything that ships after it, including fixes for newly discovered vulnerabilities, will not reach a 24H2 Home or Pro machine unless it first moves to a supported version.

Microsoft's own Windows 11, version 24H2 known issues and notifications page spells it out plainly: "As of October 13, 2026, Windows 11, version 24H2 Home and Pro editions have reached end of updates. Devices running these editions will no longer receive monthly security and non-security preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats." The same page recommends moving to version 25H2 or the newer 26H2.

Who's affected — and who isn't

This is an edition-based cutoff, not a build-based one. Two PCs can be running the exact same 24H2 build (26100) and have different fates depending on which edition is installed and whether the device is centrally managed.

In practice, that means a home desktop or a small-business laptop running Windows 11 Pro 24H2, with no Group Policy, Intune, Autopatch, or WSUS managing it, is exactly the device Microsoft is targeting with automatic updates. A corporate laptop on 24H2 Enterprise managed by an IT department is not forced onto anything — its administrators choose the rollout schedule.

How the forced upgrade to 25H2 actually works

Microsoft's own Windows Update FAQ describes the mechanism in general terms that apply across Windows versions: "To help keep devices on a supported version of Windows, Windows Update automatically initiates a feature update for devices before — or as they are approaching — end of servicing." Microsoft limits this automatic behavior to "consumer devices and non-managed business devices"; devices under IT management are explicitly excluded.

For 25H2 specifically, Microsoft described the delivery mechanism when the version shipped in its Windows Experience Blog post, "How to get the Windows 11 2025 Update". Because 24H2 and 25H2 share the same underlying code base, 25H2 installs as a small enablement package (eKB) rather than a full operating system swap — it flips on already-present code with a single restart, instead of the longer install process older upgrades required. The post notes the rollout "will expand over the next few months" to eligible devices, with Microsoft able to apply a safeguard hold on any machine where it detects a likely compatibility problem, delaying that device's update until the issue is resolved.

Put together, the picture is this: as 24H2 Home and Pro devices get closer to — and now past — their October 13, 2026 cutoff, Windows Update increasingly treats the 25H2 eKB as an update it will offer and then install on its own, on whatever timetable it decides a given device is ready for, rather than waiting for the user to go looking for it. That is distinct from a full "upgrade" in the Windows 10-to-Windows 11 sense; most users will notice little more than a restart and a new build number in Settings > System > About.

Can you stop it, or only delay it?

You cannot permanently opt out of ever receiving 25H2 while staying on an unsupported, security-update-free 24H2 install — Microsoft's position is that it will keep nudging eligible unmanaged devices toward a supported version. What you can do is control the timing.

Per Microsoft's support article on pausing updates, Windows 11 lets you pause all updates — feature and quality — for up to 35 days at a stretch, counted from the day you pause. You can go back in and extend the pause before it expires, but the new end date is still capped at 35 days out; it doesn't stack with time already used. Once a pause lapses, Windows Update resumes on its own and will go looking for anything it had queued up, 25H2 included. There's no setting that disables feature updates indefinitely on a Home or Pro machine the way domain-joined Group Policy or Intune can for a managed fleet.

If 25H2 has already started installing and you simply want to choose when the device restarts to finish the job, Settings > Windows Update lets you pick a restart time or schedule it outside your active hours, so the update doesn't interrupt you mid-task.

How to check which version you're running

Before deciding whether this affects you, confirm your current version and edition:

• Press Windows key + R, type winver, and press Enter — this shows your edition and version (e.g., "Windows 11 Home, Version 24H2") in one dialog.
• Or go to Settings > System > About, and check the "Windows specifications" section for Edition and Version.
• If it says 24H2 and your edition is Home or Pro (including Pro Education or Pro for Workstations), your device has been without security updates since October 13, 2026, unless it has already moved to 25H2 or 26H2.

Back up your data before any feature update lands

Feature updates — even fast eKB-based ones like 25H2 — occasionally trip up specific driver, app, or peripheral combinations, and Microsoft's own safeguard-hold system exists precisely because some devices hit problems during rollout. Before 25H2 installs, whether automatically or by your own hand:

• Make sure File History, OneDrive folder backup, or a third-party backup tool has a current copy of your documents, photos, and other personal files.
• Note down or export any license keys, browser bookmarks, and app-specific data you'd hate to lose.
• If you use a local account rather than a Microsoft account, confirm you remember the password — a restart gone wrong is a bad time to discover you don't.
• Leave your PC plugged in and connected to the internet on the day Windows Update has scheduled the install, so it isn't interrupted mid-restart.

How to install 25H2 now instead of waiting on Windows Update

If your device is still on 24H2 and you'd rather control the timing than wait for the automatic rollout to reach you, Microsoft's recommended path is the one described in its own 25H2 rollout announcement:

1. Go to Settings > Windows Update.
2. Select "Check for updates." If 25H2 is offered to your device, you'll see it listed as an optional update you can download and install.
3. Alternatively, turn on "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available" under Windows Update > Advanced options — this is the same setting Microsoft used to seed the earliest wave of the 25H2 rollout, and it makes your device eligible sooner rather than later.

Because 25H2 ships as an enablement package rather than a full image swap, the install itself is quick: typically a short download followed by a single restart, not the lengthy multi-restart process older full-version upgrades needed.

What about work and school PCs?

If your device is joined to a workplace or school account, or managed through Intune, Group Policy, Windows Autopatch, or WSUS, none of the automatic consumer-targeted behavior above applies to you directly — your organization's IT administrators control when and how feature updates roll out, independent of the October 13, 2026 Home/Pro deadline. Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise multi-session editions of 24H2 also simply aren't affected by that date at all: their servicing clock runs to October 12, 2027, a full year later, per the same release information page.

What happens if you just leave it alone

A 24H2 Home or Pro PC that never updates won't stop working on October 14 — it keeps booting, running apps, and connecting to the internet exactly as before. What changes is that Microsoft stops shipping it fixes for newly discovered security vulnerabilities, the kind Patch Tuesday exists to close. Every month that passes without updates widens the gap between what a 24H2 Home/Pro machine is protected against and what current malware, phishing kits, and exploit chains are built to target. Microsoft's own guidance is unambiguous on this point: move to 25H2 or 26H2 to keep receiving protection, and if you don't act, Windows Update will eventually act for you on eligible unmanaged devices.

What's next

With 24H2 Home and Pro now past end of support, Microsoft's attention is already shifting further out: 25H2 itself is a fairly modest release, largely laying groundwork for the features Microsoft is testing in current Insider builds and already shipping in the newer Windows 11, version 26H2, which became generally available on September 29, 2026, and carries its own 24-month (Home/Pro) and 36-month (Enterprise/Education) clocks running to October 2028 and October 2029 respectively. Expect Microsoft to keep leaning on this same automatic-update mechanism — eKB-based feature updates nudged onto unmanaged devices as they near end of service — as 25H2 itself approaches its October 2027 deadline. For most Home and Pro users, the practical move is the same one Microsoft is already pushing: update once, and let the next transition happen on a schedule you chose rather than one Windows Update chose for you.

Written byFelix Moreau

Felix Moreau writes Pandromeda's software coverage and how-to guides. He covers Windows, macOS and Linux updates, the apps people rely on, emulators and developer tools, and turns official documentation into clear, numbered steps that work on the current version.

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