You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free with this loophole (but not for much longer)

Vaughn Highfield March 29, 2017

Haven’t upgraded to Windows 10 yet? If you don’t act soon, you’re going to run out of time to get yourself Microsoft’s latest OS for free.

You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free with this loophole (but not for much longer)

Microsoft may have officially stopped offering Windows 10 to consumers free back on 29 July 2016, but it’s kept a loophole open for the last year and a half for those who still wanted a free copy of Windows 10. However, that loophole is finally going to be shuttered on 31 December, meaning you need to act fast to snap up a copy of Windows 10 for free.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 free upgrade loophole requires you to sign up for Windows 10 for assistive technologies. It’s exactly the same version of Windows 10 as the paid-for consumer build, and it’ll upgrade it to the latest version of Windows too. So, if you want to upgrade your PC from a rather creaky Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to the streamlined Windows 10, you only have a few days left to do so for free.

While the upgrade had previously been left indefinitely open, Microsoft now states on the Windows 10 assistive technologies update page that they will cease their generosity from 31 December 2017.

If you want to go ahead and grab Windows 10 for free, here’s how you can do it.

Upgrade to Windows 10 for free

If you want to make use of Microsoft’s Windows 10 assistive technologies you need to make sure you’re running an eligible version of Windows. The upgrade only applies to those running Windows 7 Home or Home Premium with Service Pack 1 or higher installed and Windows 8.1. Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise and Windows RT/RT 8.1 are all excluded from the free upgrade.

If you qualify for Windows 10, all you have to do is head to the Windows 10 free upgrade for assistive technologies page, click “Upgrade Now” and launch the EXE file that downloads to your PC.

Follow the instructions, while making sure you have a reliable internet connection as Microsoft’s tool needs to download some extra bits and bobs, and within an hour you’ll be making use of Windows 10 for diddly squat.

It’s unclear when this loophole will be closed but, with Windows 10 Creators Update launching on 11 April, it’s likely Microsoft will pull the plug then.