Windows 11’s minimum system requirements have been controversial from the day Microsoft unveiled the new version of its desktop operating system. The controversy boils down to one single line item: TPM 2.0 support. TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module, which is a chip that protects against malware and ransomware attacks. If your PC doesn’t have TPM version 2.0, then you can’t officially upgrade to Windows 11, unless you used a bypass that Microsoft had published.
It appears that Microsoft doesn’t want you to use the bypass any longer. Neowin spotted an update to a Microsoft support page with wording about the bypass removed. You can even check the page on The Wayback Machine to see what it looked like until a few days ago. The previous version mentioned that you could add a new registry key called AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU to bypass the TPM check and install Windows 11 on ‘unsupported’ PCs. In the updated version of the support article, that section is no longer there.
This means that Microsoft no longer recommends any official method to install Windows 11 on ‘unsupported’ PCs. This move comes ahead of a planned end of updates for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, after which you’ll have to pay annually to receive security updates. That could be an expensive proposition for each successive year that you choose to remain on Windows 10.
Several methods to bypass the Windows 11 TPM check still exist, but it remains to be seen if they’ll continue to work in the future. Microsoft has advised against upgrading ‘unsupported’ PCs, going so far as to say that doing so will void your warranty and that your PC may no longer be entitled to receive updates. But if you’re like my editor and can’t yet upgrade, at least you can make your Windows 10 PC look and feel like Windows 11.
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