Several reports have indicated Microsoft is finally allowing Windows 11 to be installed on unsupported PCs. Unfortunately, those reports are false, and you will still need workarounds to bypass the hardware checks in the Windows 11 installer.
Windows 11 has much steeper requirements than Windows 10, preventing PCs with older CPUs, no TPM 2.0 support, and no Secure Boot from officially upgrading. There are workarounds, but they aren’t officially sanctioned and could theoretically break at any time. Microsoft already broke Windows 11 installs on incredibly old CPUs that were never close to the official requirements, and it’s possible future updates will demand features that can’t be hacked onto older systems.
Microsoft has resisted calls to lower the official requirements, especially with free updates ending for Windows 10 in October 2025. In fact, Microsoft doubled down earlier this month—the company published a blog post explaining why TPM 2.0 and other requirements are important, seemingly shutting the door on the idea of more old PCs being officially upgradable.
Several tech news outlets are reporting that Microsoft has now reversed this policy, citing a new Microsoft support document that explains, “If Windows 11 is installed on ineligible hardware, you should be comfortable assuming the risk of running into compatibility issues.” The support document is not actually new—the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine indicates the document was published in 2021 with the same warning text.
There is no new policy here. Windows 11 still officially calls for an approved CPU, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and other hardware missing in many older PCs. The support document doesn’t condone or explain how to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs, and there’s no evidence the official installer has been updated to skip those checks. If you have a PC with Windows 10, Microsoft still wants you sign up for extended Windows 10 security when that becomes available, or just buy a new PC with Windows 11.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft to ask for more confirmation, and we will update this article when we hear back. For now, though, there’s no evidence Microsoft is changing its mind.
Source: Microsoft, Internet Archive
