Not a typo: extended support has been extended.
If you’re running Windows 10 and you’ve signed up for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, apparently you have another year of support coming your way.
I’m surprised, and yet somehow I’m not.
ESU Extension
If you signed up for Windows 10’s Extended Security Updates, you get even more time. Microsoft quietly moved the end date to October 2027. That’s an extra year of security updates. Already enrolled? You’re set. Not enrolled yet? You can still sign up.
ESU
The Extended Security Updates program was introduced shortly before Windows 10’s end-of-support date. Those who signed up (typically for free) get an additional year of security updates for their existing Windows 10 installation. In effect, it moved the Windows 10 end-of-support date from October 14, 2025, to October 2026.
This provided only security-related Windows 10 updates. Bugs are still not getting fixed unless they represent some kind of security vulnerability. Windows Security is unaffected; it will continue to be updated into 2028, regardless.
As I write this, the October 2026 deadline is less than four months away.
What should Windows 10 users do now? Apparently, nothing.
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ESU Extended
Some sharp-eyed folks have noted that Microsoft quietly updated the end date for the ESU program from 2026 to 2027.
Windows 10 support has ended. You can enroll in ESU any time until the program ends on October 12, 2027. If you’re already enrolled, your coverage will automatically continue through that date—no action needed.
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The Windows 10 ESU program will continue for another year, without additional cost.
This is pretty good news for all who plan to keep using it. (Which, you can, safely, ESU or not.)
Why?
I’m always reluctant to speculate about why Microsoft does what it does. Who really knows? I have a couple of thoughts nonetheless.
Windows 10 is still used enough that Microsoft can’t just walk away… yet. While they would love to have everyone on Windows 11, that’s not happening, for reasons ranging from its hardware requirements to general consumer reaction. They could double down on this, I suppose, and throw existing Windows 10 users into the wind. But given their statements about fixing some of Windows 11’s problems, perhaps this gives them some more time to address those issues.
The other scenario is that of Microsoft’s largest Windows customer: the corporate world. As I understand it, corporations could get security updates for longer than consumers anyway, but we also know that the work-from-home crowd has an interesting overlap of corporate and personal equipment. Corporations benefit if employees running their personal copies of Windows 10 are protected for another year, and Microsoft may understand that.
Microsoft could also be attempting to stem the tide of those leaving Windows completely. I don’t have numbers, but I’ve heard of many people investigating alternatives, including Macs, Linux, and Chromebooks. This removes a little pressure on existing Windows 10 users to take those leaps.
Do this
If you’re running Windows 10 and you haven’t yet signed up for ESU, you can still do so. The offer should be in Settings, Updates & Security.
If you’ve already signed up for ESU, congratulations! You have another year of coverage.
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I was happily continuing with Windows 10 and no ESU, but two things have changed. The extra year of bug fixes and AI. We are in the middle of a wave of bug fixes, fixing problems found by AI. Both the Chrome and Firefox browsers recently fixed way more bugs than normal. No doubt, this will affect Windows too. Paying $30 for two years of Windows 10 bug fixes for up to 10 computers seems like the right path. If you have only 5 PCs, perhaps friends have 5 and you can split the cost.