How to switch Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 S is designed to be a much faster and more secure 'version' of Windows 10. School systems often use Windows 10 S to better restrict the aspects that students have. access. At the same time, many low-cost Windows laptop devices also come pre-installed with Windows 10 S.

Possible reasons why you left Windows 10 S

Windows 10 S can be considered as a product that Microsoft launched to compete with Google's Chromebook. It is specially designed for security and performance optimization. Since it does not come with bloatware nor the system requirements of Windows 10 Home or Pro systems, Windows 10 S basically delivers faster performance, especially on low-profile systems.

On the other hand, Windows 10 S has extremely limited sides as well. For example, when using this version of Windows 10, you are only allowed to download apps from the Microsoft Store.

For users who mostly want to browse the Internet, Windows 10 S works really well. But for those who ask for more, such as wanting to use the free Microsoft Office alternatives, the switch to Windows 10 Home will be inevitable.

It is worth noting that many Windows 10 S devices are affordable because they have a very low profile. However, they are still fully capable of running Windows 10 Home or Pro. Hence, the conversion won't cause a big problem.

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Prepare before converting

Before you make the transition, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, not every device is convertible. There are two main reasons for this.

Since devices shipped with Windows 10 S usually have hardware configurations optimized specifically for this operating system. That configuration level might not have the minimum resources to run Windows 10 Home or Pro edition. This rarely happens, but it isn't.

Another reason is that the conversion option might be blocked by your school or device provider. If your Windows 10 S device was issued by an organization or entity, the conversion might not be possible.

Another thing to note is that you can't go back to Windows 10 S after switching to Windows 10 Home. This is a one-way process. The only way to go back is in case you created a recovery disc or recovery partition before converting.

Switch to Windows 10 Home or Pro

Doing the switch means you're technically upgrading your equipment. This upgrade is completely free since you already own Windows 10, even if it's just a 'stripped-down' version.

To keep your data safe, back up your files before you get started - avoid losing important data.

Step 1. Open the Start menu and click " Settings ".

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Step 2. In Settings , click on ' Update & Security '.

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Step 3. Click ' Activation ' in the left options pane.

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Step 4. If your device is eligible to switch from Windows 10 S to Windows Home, you'll see an entry that says: ' Switch to Windows 10 Home or Switch to Windows 10 Pro '.

Step 5. Next, click " Go to Store ".

(However, make sure you don't click ' Go to Store ' under ' Upgrade your edition of Windows '. This is only to upgrade Windows 10 Home to a higher version and is not free.)

Step 6. You will then be taken to the Microsoft Store to complete the process. Press the Get button next to ' Switch Out Of S ' Mode. This will only take a few minutes as the full version of Windows 10 is already installed on the eligible devices.

Once the process is complete, you are free to use Windows 10 as you normally would. Whether you get the Home or Pro edition is based on the version of Windows 10 that came pre-installed on your device. However, you can go back to the ' Activation ' window in ' Setting ' and go through the ' Upgrade your edition of Windows ' process to buy another version of Windows 10 and upgrade.

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Jessica Tanner

Update 03 February 2021