Windows 10’s free upgrade offer is officially over. But, unofficially, free copies of Windows 10 are still available.
There are a few ways you can still get Windows 10 for free, without using a pirated license: you can take advantage of the Assistive Technologies offer from Microsoft, you can install Windows 10 with a 7 or 8 key, or install Windows without a key—it will work just fine, save for a small watermark reminding you to purchase a license.
Here’s how each of those methods work.
Take Advantage of the Assistive Technologies Offer
According to the terms of the offer, you can only use this offer if you use “assistive technologies” on your computer. These include screen readers, magnifiers, and anything else that makes Windows easier to use. Microsoft isn’t checking whether you use assistive technologies or even spelling out a list of assistive technologies that will make you eligible for the offer, though. It’s the honor system.Microsoft is still offering Windows 10 for free to people who use “assistive technologies”. All you have to do is visit the Assistive Technologies offer page and click the “Upgrade Now” button to get started. It’ll download a tool that will upgrade your Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 system to Windows 10. It works just like the previous “Get Windows 10” tool that was available to everyone during Windows 10’s first year.
This offer will only be available until December 31, 2017. As with the previous free upgrade offer, this method gets your PC a “digital license” that is valid for the life of the device. You can continue using Windows 10 and even reinstall it on that PC in the future. You just have to take advantage of the offer before the end of 2017.
Provide a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Key
Windows will contact Microsoft’s activation servers and confirm the key to the previous version of Windows is real. If it is, Windows 10 will be installed and activated on your PC. Your PC acquires a “digital license” and you can continue using and reinstalling Windows 10 on it in the future.While you can no longer use the “Get Windows 10” tool to upgrade from within Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, it is still possible to download Windows 10 installation mediafrom Microsoft and then provide a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key when you install it.
Microsoft hasn’t communicated what’s going on here, or whether it will block this method in the future. But it still works right now. Even if Microsoft blocks this trick in the future, your PC will keep its digital license and Windows 10 will remain activated.
Reinstall Windows 10 if You’ve Already Upgraded
To do this, just download the Windows 10 installation media and install it on that computer. Don’t provide any key during the installation process. It should automatically activate after it contacts Microsoft’s servers.If you’ve taken advantage of any free upgrade offer–either the original free upgrade offer during the first year, the accessibility offer, or by installing Windows 10 and providing a key for an eligible previous version of Windows–you can continue to “get Windows 10 for free” on the same hardware.
Sure, you can only do this if you’ve already upgraded to Windows 10, but you can continue to install Windows 10 for free on the same computer in the future–even if you replace its hard drive or other components. The new activation wizard in Windows 10’s Anniversary Update will even help you troubleshoot hardware changes and reassociate the digital license with the correct PC.
Skip the Key and Ignore the Activation Warnings
Here’s the real secret: You don’t need to provide a product key to install Windows 10. You can download Windows 10 installation media from Microsoft and install it on a PC, in Boot Camp on a Mac, or in a virtual machine without providing a product key. Windows will continue to work normally and you can do practically whatever you want.
This isn’t technically allowed by Microsoft’s guidelines, but they’ve specifically designed Windows to work this way. If Microsoft doesn’t want people doing this, it’s free to change Windows to block this in the future–and it might. But Windows has worked this way for years. This was even possible with Windows 7.
You can also head to Microsoft’s website and download a 90-day evaluation version of Windows 10 Enterprise. It will continue working for 90 days–about three months. It’s designed for organizations to evaluate Windows 10 Enterprise.
This evaluation copy comes with the extra features built into Windows 10 Enterprise, so it’s also a convenient way to test these Enterprise features. However, you can upgrade any edition of Windows 10 to the Enterprise edition if you have a key or just don’t mind it not being activated afterwards.
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