Windows 10 users in Europe get a free year of security updates
Microsoft is giving Windows 10 users in Europe a welcome surprise, an extra year of free Extended Security Updates (ESUs) with no strings attached. This means that after October 14, 2025, when Windows 10 officially reaches end-of-support, users in the European Economic Area (EEA) will still receive security patches for an additional year without needing to pay, sign in, or back up any data to the cloud.
Everywhere else, things aren’t so simple. In most regions, users must either connect their PC to Microsoft’s cloud services, use Microsoft Rewards points, or pay for ESU access. But in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, the updates will simply continue automatically.
Microsoft says the change is meant to “meet local expectations,” though the real reason likely has to do with European regulators. Consumer rights groups argued that forcing users to link their PC to Microsoft’s services in exchange for free updates could violate the Digital Markets Act, which limits how big tech companies tie services together.
The move also helps address another concern, electronic waste. Millions of PCs that can’t upgrade to Windows 11 due to hardware restrictions (like missing TPM 2.0 chips) would otherwise be left vulnerable or scrapped. For users outside Europe, nothing changes as they’ll still have to pay or meet certain conditions to stay secure after 2025.
But for European Windows 10 users, this is a rare win: one more year of safety, completely free.
