Is your PC ready for Windows 11? How to check — and what TPM 2.0 actually means

As Windows 10 winds down, the most common upgrade roadblock is a message that your PC isn't supported — and nine times out of ten the culprit is TPM 2.0. Windows 11 also needs Secure Boot, a compatible 64-bit CPU, 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage, but TPM is what trips most people up.

A TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is a small security chip that safely stores encryption keys and sign-in data — it's what makes features like BitLocker and Windows Hello secure. The good news: most PCs built in the last ~5 years already have TPM 2.0, it's just turned off in the BIOS by default.

How to check: run Microsoft's free PC Health Check app — it tells you pass/fail and why. To see the TPM directly, press Win+R, type tpm.msc and press Enter; it'll show whether a TPM is present and its version. If it says "not found," reboot into your BIOS/UEFI and look for TPM, PTT (Intel) or fTPM (AMD) and enable it.

If your PC genuinely can't meet the requirements, don't panic — enrolling in ESU keeps Windows 10 patched to October 2027 (see our step-by-step guide) while you plan. Either way, Tendvane's Privacy/security check reports your BitLocker and security status, and its app- and driver-update tools keep the machine current whichever version you're on.