Upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro

You don't need to reinstall. Enter a Pro key and Windows switches editions in a few minutes, keeping your files and apps.

Updated October 2026

What you need

  • A Windows 11 Pro product key.
  • Windows 11 Home that is already activated, or a fresh install of Home.
  • An internet connection, and about 10 minutes.

Your files, apps and settings stay where they are. It's still sensible to back up anything important first.

Steps to upgrade

  1. Open Settings (press Windows + I) and go to System › Activation.
  2. Open Upgrade your edition of Windows.
  3. Next to Change product key, select Change.
  4. Enter your 25-character Windows 11 Pro key and select Next.
  5. Select Start to begin the upgrade. Windows downloads the Pro features and restarts, usually once.

Check that it worked

After the restart, go back to Settings › System › Activation. It should say Windows 11 Pro and Active. You'll now find Pro-only tools such as BitLocker, Remote Desktop and Hyper-V.

If the key is rejected

  • 0xC004F050: the key was mistyped or isn't a Pro key. Copy and paste it from your account.
  • “This product key didn't work”: make sure you're on Windows 11 Home, not Windows 10 Home or an S mode device.
  • Still stuck? See Windows activation error codes.

Keys mentioned in this guide

Still stuck?Send us a screenshot and your order number on the contact page. If a key we sold you won't activate, we fix it or send a replacement.