OS upgrade from Home to Pro version

Question

I have 40 laptops running on Win 10/11 Home and I need to upgrade it to Win 11 Pro. Kindly suggest me on licensing offer.

Answer 1

Hi Vikas Bank,

I wanted to follow up and see if you have been able to resolve the licensing situation for your 40 laptops. Have you run into any hurdles with contacting a CSP partner, or do you need more help getting those upgrades sorted out?

Answer 2

Hi Vikas Bank,

Dealing with 40 individual laptops is quite a task, and while the Q&A Assist gave you the standard individual steps, buying 40 licenses through the Microsoft Store one by one is definitely not the optimal way for a business. Since you are managing a fleet, here is the most efficient path forward based on Microsoft’s professional licensing standards:

1.Work with a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)

Instead of individual retail purchases, I recommend contacting a Microsoft CSP partner. For 40 devices, they can provide Volume Licensing or a GGWA (Get Genuine Windows Agreement). This allows you to manage all 40 licenses under one business account rather than 40 separate Microsoft Store transactions.

2.Confirm the Licensing Gap

It is important to note that a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription does not provide a free upgrade from Home to Pro. Each of your 40 devices must first have a valid Windows Pro license assigned to it. Business Premium only grants upgrade rights if the device is already running a "qualifying" version like Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Pro.

3.Centralized Deployment

Once you have acquired the Pro licenses through a partner:

You can use Windows Autopilot and Microsoft Intune (included in Business Premium) to automatically upgrade and configure all 40 laptops over the cloud.

This avoids having to manually go into the "Settings" menu on every single machine.

I suggest reaching out to a local Microsoft Partner to get a bulk quote for "Windows 11 Pro Upgrade" licenses. If you found this information useful, please hit "Accept Answer" to help others in the community find this solution as well.

Tracy.

Answer 3

Windows 10/11 Home does not include rights to upgrade to Pro via Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Each Home device requires its own Pro license purchase.

For the 40 laptops running Windows 10/11 Home, the supported options are:

1. Purchase Windows 10/11 Pro per device via Microsoft Store
   • On each device, open the Microsoft Store app.
   • Search for Windows 10 Pro.
   • Select the option to upgrade to Windows 10/11 Pro.
   • Choose Learn more or Install and follow the prompts.
   • A Windows Pro license purchase will be required for each Home device.
2. Use the built-in upgrade flow from Home to Pro (Windows 11)
   • On each Windows 11 Home device, go to Start → Settings → System → Activation.
   • Expand Upgrade your edition of Windows and select Open Store.
   • Complete the purchase and upgrade to Windows 11 Pro from the Microsoft Store.
3. Use existing Pro-eligible devices with Microsoft 365 Business Premium
   • If any devices are running Windows 7 Pro, 8 Pro, or 8.1 Pro, a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription entitles those devices to upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 Pro at no additional Windows license cost.
   • This entitlement does not apply to devices that started with Windows 10/11 Home.

Summary for licensing:

• For the 40 Windows 10/11 Home laptops, budget for 40 Windows Pro licenses (purchased via Microsoft Store or authorized reseller).
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium does not convert Home to Pro for free; it only grants upgrade rights for qualifying Pro editions (Windows 7/8/8.1 Pro) to Windows 10/11 Pro.

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References:

• Upgrade Windows devices to Windows 10 or 11 Pro
• Upgrade Windows Home to Windows Pro