Upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro

The two versions of Windows 11 available to users, viz Windows 11 Home e Windows 11 Prodiffer from each other in the presence or absence of some features, as seen in the guide to Windows version comparison.

The differences are minimal and mainly concern Remote control e Group Policyadvanced functions that are used only in the office and difficult to exploit at home (they are useful but not essential on home computers).

In the following guide we will show you anyway how to switch from windows 11 home to windows 11 prowhich can become very useful if we have set up computers for the office but by mistake we only find copies of Windows 11 Home, which are not very suitable for the business environment.

READ ALSO: Passare da Windows 32 bit a Windows 64 bit

1) Purchase the Pro license

First of all we will have to purchase a license for Windows 11 Proneeded to activate the missing functions on our copy of Windows 11 Home.

We cannot proceed without having first purchased a license for the new version, given that Microsoft does not currently provide a special discount for those who already have the Home and want to switch to the Pro version.

The easiest way to purchase the Windows 11 Pro license is to open the Start menu, search for the Microsoft Store and type in the search bar at the top Windows 11 Pro and then clicking on Find out more.

In the window that will open, press the button Buy and we proceed with the purchase of the digital license that can be directly associated with the Microsoft account on the computer.

Alternatively we can buy one user license for Windows 11 Pro directly on Amazon or by purchasing one of low-cost licenses featured on sites such as Kinguin it’s like

On many PCs we can also redeem some Windows 10 Pro licenses.

2) Install new license from graphical interface

If we use version update via Microsoft Store it is not necessary to change the license and activate it from the system settings: upon restarting we will immediately have Window 11 Pro active with the new functions and synchronized with our Microsoft account.

If instead we have purchased a license key from Amazon or from other sites we can follow the procedures to switch from Windows 11 Home to Pro:

• From the Microsoft Store: opening the same page seen in the previous chapter we can press on the writing I have a Windows 10/11 Pro product key.
• From system settings: we press WIN+I on the keyboard, let’s go to the path System -> Activationwe press on Upgrade your Windows edition and then on the key Change.
• From command promptas we will see in the next chapter of the guide.

In procedures from Microsoft and system settings will open one small window where to enter the obtained Windows 11 Pro license, so as to start downloading the missing system files; upon reboot we will have Windows 11 Pro ready for use.

3) Install new license from command prompt

In addition to the procedure via the graphical interface we can also install a Windows 11 Pro license from the command promptspeeding up the process especially if we have many computers to activate.

To proceed, press the right mouse button on the Start menu, click on Terminal (Admin) and, in the window that will open, type the following command:

slmgr /ipk VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

This command will install the Windows 11 Pro license and activate the system right away. In the command above we have entered the standard trial license of Windows 11 Pro, valid for 180 days; if we have purchased the license, simply replace the code above with the purchased Product Key (source Microsoft Forum).

On corporate volume licensing, after running the above command, we also run the following commands to start the KMS server and manage remote volume activation:

slmgr /skms kms8.msguides.com

slmgr /ato

We restart the PC after installing the license via prompt for the changes to take effect.

4) Clean install

Of course you can always install Windows 11 da zero e, in stage of installationvalidate the product key on the screen asking for the key to activate the product.

We can also activate it later, especially if we already have an exploitable license on the Microsoft account, as also seen in the guide on how to reinstall windows 11 without product key (with digital license).

For the clean installation of Windows 11 we suggest you read the article on how to reset windows 11 (clean install).

Conclusions

License management on Windows 11 has become very easygiven that the procedures for upgrade from Windows 11 Home to Pro have been integrated directly into the Microsoft Store.

However, we can always buy the license keys from another store and redeem them on our PCs using the procedures from the settings or, better still, the command prompt procedurewhich can be easily replicated on dozens of PCs simultaneously.

To learn more we can read the guides on how to activate windows 11 and 10, fixing product key errors e on how many computers can I activate Windows with a single license.