How to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro on Surface Pro 11?

Question

I already have an Alienware Aurora R16 x86-64 PC which arrived with Windows 11 Home and for which I have upgraded to Windows 11 Pro on the Microsoft Store.

Now I have bought a second device, a Surface Pro 11 arm64 device. This one arrived also with Windows 11 Home (I don't know why they call it a Pro device).

I have the following questions:

1. If I buy the upgrade to Windows 11 Pro via Microsoft Store with the same Microsoft account will it work?
2. How does this work? The x86-64 version is attached to one activation key and the arm64 version is attrached to the other?

And a secondary question: can I install Windows 11 on Surface Pro with only a local account?

Thanks

***Moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Install and upgrade***

Answer 1

Hello Octavian,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Because this series of products is called Surface Pro, but the Pro here does not refer to the professional version.

Please let me answer your questions separately.

1. If I buy the upgrade to Windows 11 Pro via Microsoft Store with the same Microsoft account will it work?

No, they are not related. Pro systems purchased with Alienware computers can only be used with Alienware computers, not with Surface Pro.

2. How does this work? The x86-64 version is attached to one activation key and the arm64 version is attrached to the other?

To be precise, these two purchases do not involve a key, and only a digital license is held in the device.

You have a Pro license in your Alienware computer, so you can use the Pro system in your Alienware computer, but the Surface only has a Home license, so you can't use the Pro Edition in your Surface, and you need to upgrade through the Microsoft Store.

3. Can I install Windows 11 on Surface Pro with only a local account?

Your Surface is already installed with Windows 11 Home Edition, so you can use your local account on this device, but you may receive prompts to sign in to your Microsoft account in some applications, such as Edge, Microsoft Store, because some services are based on Microsoft account. However, it does not affect routine use.

But if you plan to upgrade to the Pro version, you'll need to pay for the upgrade in the Microsoft Store again. So in fact, my advice is that if you don't have any special needs, the home edition is actually enough for you.

That's all the responses to your questions, if you think my response answered your query, please feel free to mark “Yes” or “No” at the top of the response to make it easier for other customers to find the answer faster.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Thanks. Ok, I made the jump and purchased another upgrade to Windows 11 Pro with the same email address Microsoft account. Not that I had a choice.

Question: are these digital keys attached to my Alienware and Surface devices? It was my impresion that these digital keys are more like a retail version, meaning if I throw away next year the Surface 11 and buy a Surface 12 I will still be able to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro. The price for one upgrade license Home -> Pro was 159 CHF (that's almost 200 bucks), this price should be a retail license.

Thanks

Answer 3

Hi Octavian,

Judging from the purchase price alone, the retail version is actually priced at $200:

Buy and Download Windows 11 Pro | Microsoft

Then I would speculate that you may have purchased a Pro license directly, rather than upgrading from Home to Pro.

Since you have two devices, I suggest you check to see if you have two bills in your account and see if they match. If one of them only has 100 to 150 CHF, then this is the price of buying the upgrade service, and 159 CHF is the price of the retail version.

The cheaper price corresponds to the license to upgrade from the home Edition to the Professional Edition, which can only be used in the current device and cannot be transferred to a second computer; the more expensive price corresponds to the retail Pro license, which can be directly linked to your Microsoft account. That is, if you intend to use Pro system on another computer in the future, you can log into your Microsoft account on that device and the Pro digital license in that account will be automatically recognized.

But let me give you a friendly reminder that if Home is pre-installed on your new device, the system may not recognize the Pro license in your account immediately. You will need to reinstall the Pro system for this computer and then log into your Microsoft account in order to properly recognize and activate the Pro license in your account.

If this is a new Surface with a home Edition system, you'll need to download the Professional recovery image with the serial number and then create a Surface-specific recovery drive to reinstall the Surface:

Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface - Microsoft Support

If you still have doubts about this issue, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist