Microsoft starts the 30-day death clock for Windows 10
This will all be over soon, we promise you. But for a little while longer you are going to continue hearing about Windows 10. It is something that has been talked about for so long that it would be easy to start to feel numb to any more mentions of the operating system, but the end of support for Windows 10 has reached an important milestone.
Over the weekend, we hit the point of there being only 30 days left. Never one to miss an opportunity to remind users of Windows 10 about the end of support – or, indeed, to suggest upgrading to Windows 11 – Microsoft issued a reminder about the upcoming end of servicing.
The company posted a reminder in the Windows message center entitled “30-Day Reminder: Windows 10, version 22H2 will reach end of servicing on October 14, 2025”. The message starts off:
On October 14, 2025, Windows 10, version 22H2 (Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise editions) will reach end of servicing. October 14, 2025 will also mark the end of support for Windows 10 2015 LTSB and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2015. The October 2025 monthly security update will be the last update available for these versions. After this date, devices running these versions will no longer receive monthly security and preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats.
The end of normal servicing does not mean being abandoned completely, however. There remain ways to ensure that systems that continue to run Windows 10 after October 14 remain protected against any serious security issues that may emerge. Microsoft plugs its Extended Security Updates program by saying:
As we shared last October, for the first time ever, you can enroll your personal Windows 10 PC in the ESU program and receive critical and important monthly security updates after servicing ends in October. See Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for detailed information on the ESU program for personal devices. See Enable Extended Security Updates (ESU) to learn more about the ESU program for organizations.
As well as promoting its ESU program, Microsoft also uses the reminder as an way to encourage adoption of Windows 11 – although at this late stage in the game, it is hard to imagine that the company will convince anyone who is actively choosing not to upgrade to Windows 11 to change their minds.
Nonetheless, Microsoft says:
As always, we recommend that you update your devices to the latest version of Windows 11. For information about servicing timelines and lifecycle, see Windows 10 release information, Windows 11 release information, Lifecycle FAQ - Windows, and Microsoft Lifecycle Policy search tool.
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