Windows 10 reached its official end of support on 14 October 2025. If your business still has Windows 10 machines running today, that deadline passed well over a year ago, here's the realistic plan.
Windows 10 reached its official end of support on 14 October 2025. If your business still has Windows 10 laptops or desktops running today, that deadline hasn't just passed, it passed well over a year ago.
That's not a reason to panic. It is a reason to stop deferring and deal with it properly, because the risk only grows the longer unsupported devices stay in daily use.
This article explains where things actually stand right now, what Microsoft's stopgap options do and don't cover, and the practical steps to get your business off Windows 10 without a chaotic scramble.
Since the October 2025 cutoff, Windows 10 devices no longer receive the regular security updates that used to arrive every month. Microsoft has since extended its free consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) programme to October 2027 for eligible devices, and a separate paid business ESU programme can run annually through to October 2028. These are useful bridges, but they are explicitly temporary, security patches only, and not a long-term plan.
In plain terms: if you're reading this and still have Windows 10 machines in the business, you are most likely already past free mainstream support, possibly inside an ESU window if you enrolled, and on borrowed time either way.
Every month a Windows 10 device goes without the protection a supported operating system gets, the gap between "known vulnerability" and "unpatched machine in your office" gets more exploitable. Attackers specifically target unsupported systems because they know the fixes aren't coming.
For a small business, that can mean:
If you're relying on "it still works fine" as your security strategy, this is the moment to change that.
Before anything else, list every Windows device the business depends on: office desktops, staff laptops, home-working laptops that touch business email or files, reception and shared devices, anything in a workshop or warehouse.
For each one, note who uses it, where it's used, what it's used for, and which Windows version it's actually running. Most SMEs who do this properly find more Windows 10 machines than they expected.
Not every Windows 10 PC can run Windows 11. Identify your oldest devices first (anything already several years old is worth checking), assess hardware readiness, and decide: upgrade, rebuild, or replace.
If you rely on specialist software or peripherals, check those too. The risk isn't just the PC, it's whether the whole setup still works afterwards.
Most businesses end up using a mix. Upgrade in place where hardware allows it and the device still performs well. Replace anything that can't meet Windows 11's requirements or is already unreliable. Retire or repurpose anything no longer genuinely needed.
Don't spend time and labour upgrading machines that are near the end of their useful life anyway. The real cost isn't the Windows licence, it's the disruption and repeat support calls if the device stays unreliable regardless.
If some devices genuinely can't be replaced immediately, enrolling in ESU buys time; consumer devices through October 2027, business devices through annual renewal to October 2028 at the latest. Treat that window as a hard deadline for migration, not a reason to deprioritise the work.
Pilot with a small group first. Fix what breaks. Then roll out in planned waves rather than a single big-bang change, with support available as people adjust.
An OS refresh is a natural moment to fix fundamentals at the same time: multi-factor authentication on all Microsoft 365 accounts, device encryption, standard (non-admin) user accounts, automated patching, and stronger endpoint protection. If one person clicks something they shouldn't, the business shouldn't grind to a halt because of it.
Even routine upgrades can go wrong, a laptop fails mid-update, a profile corrupts, a critical folder turns out to be stored locally rather than in OneDrive. Confirm backups are genuinely working before changes begin, and have a rollback plan ready.
If your business is still running Windows 10 and needs a clear, realistic plan rather than a last-minute scramble, we can help: discovering and documenting every device, confirming Windows 11 readiness, building a phased rollout plan around your business calendar, configuring sensible security baselines, and migrating data cleanly with minimal downtime.
The deadline has already passed. The sensible next step is finding out exactly where your business stands and getting a realistic plan in place, not panic-buying, and not waiting any longer either.
Start with a short device and readiness review. We'll tell you plainly what's exposed, what to replace, and what the realistic timeline looks like. Your Technology, Managed the Right Way.
Book a free IT review and we'll show you exactly where your current setup is costing you money, leaving you exposed, or slowing your team down. No obligation, no hard sell.
