The three official ways to get Windows 11: Installation Assistant, Media Creation Tool, ISO — via Microsoft
Tricklow riskNeeds adminWindows 11Windows 10
Microsoft's download page has three tools. Installation Assistant upgrades the PC you're on. Media Creation Tool makes a bootable USB stick or DVD. The ISO is a disk image you can mount, or put on a USB stick or in a virtual machine. All are free, and all come straight from Microsoft.
Takes effect right away
How to do it
- Go to
microsoft.com/software-download/windows11. - Installation Assistant: upgrades the current PC in place. You need Windows 10 version 2004 or later, at least 9 GB of free space and an administrator account. x64 PCs only.
- Media Creation Tool: builds a USB stick (8 GB or more; everything on it is erased) or a DVD for a clean install or another PC. x64 only.
- Disk image (ISO): a multi-edition ISO. The product key you use decides which edition gets installed. Arm64 PCs have their own, separate ISO.
Each tool checks that the PC meets the Windows 11 requirements. On a PC that doesn't, Microsoft advises against installing (see the unsupported-hardware entry).
Sources
- Download Windows 11 — by Microsoft
- Source reviewed
- 2026-11-02
- Link checked
- 2026-11-02
- Tested hands-on
- Not by Oddbyte.Me
Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every Windows build, so keep the undo handy.