Two months left for Windows 11 24H2 - and most people won't have to lift a finger

Type winver into the Start menu and press Enter. If the little box says Version 24H2 and your PC runs Home or Pro, you have until 13 October before that version stops receiving security updates. Microsoft posted the reminder this week, exactly two months out.

This is a far smaller deal than last year's Windows 10 deadline, and it's worth saying why. No hardware becomes obsolete. Windows 11 25H2, the version that keeps you covered until October 2027, is built from the same code as 24H2. It installs as an enablement package - a small switch that turns on features already sitting on your disk. One reboot, a few minutes, no reinstall, your files and programs untouched.

Most people won't have to do anything. Microsoft is pushing 25H2 out automatically to home PCs that aren't managed by a company IT department, so if Windows Update is working normally it will simply turn up, and you still get to pick when to restart. Enterprise and Education editions get an extra year, until 12 October 2027, which is why you'll see two different dates quoted around the web.

The machines to actually check on are the ones where Windows Update has quietly been stuck for months - the PC that shows the same "restart to finish installing" prompt week after week, or throws an error code and gives up. Those don't get pulled forward on their own, and they're the ones still on 24H2 in November.

A feature update is also a sensible moment to have your files somewhere other than the one drive. They almost always go fine; when they don't, you want a second copy. Tendvane's one-click backup puts Documents, Pictures and Desktop on an external drive before you start.