This is the only trick that will work in 2026 to upgrade your incompatible Windows 10 PC to Windows 11
Last October, Microsoft officially ended support for the Windows 10 operating system. One of its main goals is to encourage the majority of users of this version to upgrade to Windows 11 permanently.
However, Microsoft has promised to continue providing updates for another year to those who haven't yet taken this step. Meanwhile, many are preparing to install Windows 11 on their devices, but some are facing a minor issue: their devices may not meet the minimum system requirements to install this version of the operating system.
It's important to know that many Windows 10 computers are compatible with Windows 11, despite some warnings to the contrary. All it takes is a few simple adjustments to the settings, as we'll explain later.
This means that if you have a relatively old computer, you can avoid replacing it with a new one and upgrade to Windows 11. However, you might encounter some problems during the upgrade process. Among these, the most common issues are Secure Boot and the TPM module, two components that Microsoft requires to be compatible for installing the latest version of the operating system. Let's see how to resolve these issues below.
How to enable Secure Boot on your computer
As mentioned, the update requires two essential elements: Secure Boot and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). For detailed information about your device's components and compatibility, type msinfo32 in the search box on the taskbar.
Here, the system type must be x64 and the BIOS must be UEFI . Finally, enabling Secure Boot is not mandatory, but the motherboard must at least support it. Now we will access your computer's BIOS. Each motherboard has its own specific access method, which you can find in your user manual. In most BIOS systems, there is a key you press during startup to access this setting.
Your computer is likely already configured to use UEFI instead of the traditional BIOS. If not, you'll need to enable UEFI and restart your computer. This option is usually found in the Advanced Settings section, where you'll look for the "Enable UEFI" option. After restarting, go back to the BIOS and look for the "Secure Boot" option; enable it as well to ensure your computer is compatible.
Activate the TPM module to upgrade to Windows 11.
We'll also need to enable the aforementioned TPM module; otherwise, we won't be able to upgrade to Windows 11. This has been a mandatory security standard on PCs since 2016. So, if your PC came with Windows 10 or a later version when you bought it, it should have a TPM version. If your PC is older, it's very likely not compatible with TPM. Once UEFI is enabled, as we saw earlier, we can then enable TPM security along with the Secure Boot feature.
From there, once the new configuration with its changes is saved, all we have to do is restart the computer, and we will be able to upgrade to Windows 11 if we wish.