After installing a recent update, users are starting to receive full-screen Windows 11 “free upgrade” notifications on Windows 10, where Microsoft is reminding users that “it’s now unlocked and you’re eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 11”.
According to windowslatest, their computers running Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 received that full-screen notification over the weekend, which seems to have spiked since the January 2023 update was installed, but one of their devices with the August 2022 patch also started displaying the notification, suggesting that the notification is related to a server-side update rather than a patch.
This new pop-up resembles the first boot experience of Windows 11 and appears to use XAML. The notification attempts to remind users that their device has unlocked the “free upgrade” offer and is eligible for a smooth upgrade experience and that they can continue to use Windows 10 while downloading Windows 11 in the Download Windows 11 in the background.
You can click the “Get” button to start the download or select the second button to schedule a later download. There is also an option that lets you “Keep Windows 10”. However, when you click the “Keep Windows 10” button, the pop-up window does not disappear.
Second page of the upgrade reminder
Clicking on the “Keep Windows 10” option does not return you to the desktop, but instead opens another page called “Introducing Windows 11”, which highlights several features that are available when upgrading to the new OS: a new Start menu, tabs in File Explorer, new settings experience, Micorosft 365, etc.
The third page of the upgrade reminder
Clicking the Back button also does not close the Windows 11 Upgrade Reminder page, but opens another window titled “Microsoft recommends Windows 11 for your computer”.
Upgrade reminder page 4
Finally, users can select the “Reject upgrade” option, which opens a final confirmation window: “You will stay on Windows 10”. This page still ends up trying to entice users to upgrade by introducing Windows 11 flagship features such as tabs in Windows 11’s File Explorer and reminding them that they can always upgrade by opening the Windows Update page.
Windows 10’s full-screen notifications are nothing new, first added to Windows 10 with Microsoft’s May 2018 update, but this new one is surprisingly long, requiring about five clicks to exit. And there’s no way to bypass this notification, which may also reappear in the future.
Microsoft officially stopped selling Windows 10 product keys/licenses on February 1, and users can continue to download ISO images of Windows 10, which will continue to support security updates until October 14, 2025.
