July 20, 2026

WHY BOTHER

When Microsoft stopped issuing bug fixes for Windows 10 in October 2025, I did not much care. Windows 10 had been around for a very long time and I figured most of the bugs were fixed by now. Yes, you could twist like a pretzel and get another year of bug fixes, but it didn't seem worth it to me.

Then I changed my mind, for a few reasons.

Terminology: The extra 2 years of Windows 10 bug fixes is officially called Extended Security Updates or ESU for short. The process of signing up for 2 years of Windows 10 bug fixes is called enrolling.

One way to get the extra year of bug fixes (a pretzel twist) was paying Microsoft $30 US for the patches from November 2025 through October 2026. For many, the knee jerk reaction to paying for bug fixes was a hard NO. But, this optiojn offered the most privacy. Still, it seemed over-priced.

But, it turns out that the $30 is not for a single computer, but for a maximum of 10 copies of Windows. I don't have 10 copies of Windows 10 but I do have more than my fair share. If you only have 1 or 2 Windows 10 computers, perhaps you could chip in with another person to split the cost. It is not unusual to pay for increased privacy.

Then, just recently, Microsoft changed the rules, and that same $30 now buys two years of bug fixes rather than one. A two-for-one sale. If you (perhaps with friends) have 10 copies of Windows 10, this divides out to 2 years of bug fixes for $3. This does not seem over-priced at all, at least to me.

And finally, AI. As AI improves, it is finding more and more bugs in software. Both Chrome and Firefox recently patched a HUGE number of bugs in each browser. The July 2026 Patch Tuesday for Windows was also huge. See: Microsoft Patches a Record 570 Security Flaws by Brian Krebs July 14, 2026. This is not the time to be missing out on bug fixes.

So, I'm in, give me the fixes.

Why this blog? I read my fair share of instructions for how to get up and running with the ESU and none were comprehensive. Sometimes you don't want to think, you just want to be told, step by step, just what to do. That's what this blog is for. Note that these instructions are for consumer copies of Windows 10, Businesses live in a different world.

DIFFERENT UPDATES

One issue missing from most/all articles about the Windows 10 ESU is that even without it, Windows still provides some updates. Windows has lots of different types of updates.

1. There will still be updates to the .NET Framework
2. There will still be new copies of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT)
3. There will still be Security Intelligence Updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus
4. There will still be updates to Windows Update itself. One is KB5001716, see KB5001716: Update for Windows Update Service components. Another is KB5072653, see KB5072653: Extended Security Updates (ESU) Licensing Preparation Package for Windows 10

PRE-REQUISITES

There are a lot of ducks to line up in a row before you can activate the ESU.

The first duck is a valid Microsoft account. Like many, I logon to Windows using a Local Account rather than a Microsoft account. Better privacy that way. You can either create or(in my case) dust off a Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com. The good news is that the Microsoft account is only needed once, to activate the ESU. After that, you can go back to exclusively using Local Accounts. The Microsoft account can not be one assigned to a child.

The second duck is to install all the updates (as per above) that you can get without the ESU. That is, run Windows Update again and again, until there is nothing more to install. To verify that things are ready for the ESU, go to Settings -> system -> about. The Version should be 22H2. In the last two PCs that I enrolled, the OS builds were 19045.6456 and 19045.6466.

While not really needed, I would disable OneDrive.

(Updated this July 22, 2026) If you use Steve Gibson's Incontrol program, maybe turn it off. InControl is a great little program that prevents Microsoft from updating Windows to a newer Service Pack or a new version. In the case of the ESU it should not matter, in theory. The Service Pack with or without the ESU is 22H2. Still, anything that interferes with Windows Update is asking for trouble, even from the very reliable Mr. Gibson. If you do turn it off, you can turn it on after activating the ESU, to prevent an update to Windows 11.

As with any big change, make a Restore Point first. The techies amongst us should make an image backup.

Maybe go to Settings -> accounts -> windows backup and turn everything off. Matter of opinion.

Microsoft is not the only one shipping updates. Your hardware vendor should have their own software for installing drivers. Lenovo, for example, calls their software Vantage. Intel too, has free software for updating drivers for any Intel hardware in the computer. Should you install these other drivers along with Windows bug fixes? It's a matter of opinion, I don't know that there is one right answer.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

If all goes well, you will see this

Logon to Windows with an Administrator class local account. I have two Windows users on every PC that I configure; one is a Restricted user and the other is an Administrator.

I did not expect to write this blog, so I did not document the exact steps when enrolling my first copy of Windows 10 in the ESU. One thing was strange about it. There are three ways to qualify for the ESU and I was prepared to pay the $30 rather than use the Bing search engine for a while or backup anything on my computer to Microsoft. But, Microsoft was of the opinion that my Microsoft account had already backed up settings. This came out of left field. I rarely use my Microsoft account and only created it a few years ago to purchase a copy of Office online. I had never used it to logon to Windows. Go figure.
Update July 25,2026: Over at AskWoody.com some people have had the same experience. Also, my world view is US centric. I did not know that EU residents get the ESU for free as long as they log-in with a Microsoft account every 6 months.

So, the steps below are for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, copy of Windows 10:

Go to Settings -> Windows Update. If all works well, there should be a new section offering to Enrroll the computer in Extended Security Updates. See the screen shot a the right.

Click the "Enroll Now" link, then click the blue NEXT button.

Login to a Microsoft account. This might use a password, or it might use a code sent by email. It might even do both.

The next window is titled "Add this device to receive Extended Security Updates". It should say that there is no extra cost.

Click the blue Add device button. Note that Microsoft does not show you how many computers the Microsoft account has enrolled.

If it works, Windows will say "This device will now get Extended Security Updates through October 12, 2027". Click the blue Done button.

Then, back to the usual behavior. Click the gray Check for updates button in Windows Update. There may also be a .NET Framework update along with your missing Windows 10 bug fixes. In July 2026, the missing Windows 10 bug fixes (Nov. 2025 through July 2026) were dated 2026-07.

After installing the new updates, and the computer reboots, there is no more Microsoft Account. We can go back to using nothing but Local Accounts (if that is what you prefer).

Speaking of normal behavior . . . The last time I enrolled a PC, Windows installed a .NET Framework update alongside the missing Windows 10 patches. But, Windows Update is too stupid to co-ordinate the two. After the .NET Framework update was installed, Windows nagged for a reboot. This despite the fact that the Windows 10 patches were still downloading. It kept nagging to reboot while the Windows 10 patches were being installed. After all these years, Windows Update never fails to disappoint.

MAY NEED A KICK START

Sometimes Windows 10 needs a kick start before it will prompt you to enroll in the ESU. For me, this happened when I was logged in to Windows as a Restricted user rather than as an Administrator.

If it happens to you, even when logged on to Windows with a Local Administrator account, then in Windows Update, click the link to "Learn about end of support". This takes you to End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7. In that page, look for "Stay on your Windows 10 device by enrolling in our Extended Security Updates program to stay protected through October 12, 2027". In that sentence, click the link for "Extended Security Updates program", then click the link to "Get extended security updates". You will probably be warned that "This site is trying to open settings". Indeed it is. This is good, so Click the OPEN button. This should open Windows Update with a prompt for the ESU.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

June 26, 2026 How to get free Windows 10 security patches until October 2027 - and avoid the $30 fee by Ed Bott for ZDNet

Undated: Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) from Microsoft. When was this written or last reviewed? None of your business, Microsoft does not need dates.

The last updates without the ESU: October 14, 2025—KB5066791 (OS Builds 19044.6456 and 19045.6456).

August 2025 - October 2025: How to force the Windows 10 ESU a very long Forum post at AskWoody.com.

July 24, 2025: How to extend Windows 10 Support now published by ghacks at AskWoody.com and How to extend Windows 10 Support by a year by Martin Brinkmann.