Windows 10 will no longer be available to buy from February 1 as Microsoft halts the availability of licenses and keys for the legacy platform. As the days wind down to that finality, Microsoft is confirming that it will not remove the ability to install Windows 10 via download.
It makes sense that Microsoft is stopping sales of the now-old operating system. Windows 10 has been replaced by Windows 11 since 2021 and Microsoft will retire mainstream support for the platform in October 2025.
However, the company says it will continue to allow users to install/download Windows 10 via the Media Creation Tool or .ISO files. While Microsoft has not made a major announcement about this, a change to Win10 documentation highlights the company's position.
All SKUs of Windows 10 will continue to be downloadable, including Pro and Home versions.
Sales End
Even so, this does not change the fact that Windows 10 will no longer be available to buy from next week. Microsoft reflects this on the Store with the following message on all Windows 10 listings.
“January 31, 2023, will be the last day this Windows 10 download is offered for sale”.
While this is Microsoft's official stance, the availability of Win10 as a purchasable product will likely continue after February 1. That is because plenty of retail partners will continue to have stock of the platform that has not yet been sold.
So, essentially Microsoft is stopping the sale of Windows 10 but it will still be available as a free upgrade through downloadable methods.
Tip of the day: Do you get flooded by notifications from apps and want to disable them completely or just the notification sound? Our tutorial shows you how to do this. As an alternative, you can also configure Windows Focus Assist (Do Not Disturb Mode) and set quiet hours.
