Allow the Shift+F10 command prompt during an in-place upgrade

Allow the Shift+F10 command prompt during an in-place upgrade — via Microsoft Learn

Commandlow riskNeeds adminWindows 11Windows 10 (1703+)

When you upgrade by running setup.exe from mounted media, the Shift+F10 command prompt is turned off by default. Starting setup with /DiagnosticPrompt enable turns it on, so you can poke around if the upgrade gets stuck.

Takes effect right away

The easy way

Mount the Windows ISO (double-click it). Note the drive letter it gets; D: is just an example.
From an elevated Command Prompt, run the command with the right drive letter.
During setup, press Shift + F10 for a command prompt.

Command

Run in an administrator Command Prompt / Terminal window.

D:\setup.exe /DiagnosticPrompt enable

This only lasts for that run of setup; nothing is changed permanently, so there's nothing to undo. Without the switch, the default is disable. Available since Windows 10 version 1703.

Sources

Windows Setup command-line options — by Microsoft Learn

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.

setupupgradediagnosticpromptcommand prompttroubleshooting

See which Windows editions are inside an ISO or install.wim — via Microsoft Learn

Commandlow riskAdmin

One ISO usually holds several editions (Home, Pro, Education and more), each stored as a numbered index in install.wim or install.esd. DISM lists them along with their version and size, so you know which index is which before you deploy or extract one.

Read the Windows product key stored in your PC's firmware — via Microsoft Learn

Commandlow riskAdmin

Most PCs that came with Windows have the key embedded in the UEFI firmware (OA3), and Windows activates from it automatically when you reinstall the same edition. One PowerShell line reads that key, for example to check which edition it belongs to.

Heads-up: the BypassNRO / ms-cxh local-account shortcuts are being removed — via Windows Insider Blog

MythAdmin

Typing OOBE\BypassNRO or start ms-cxh:localonly at the Shift+F10 prompt used to let you skip the Microsoft account during setup. Microsoft announced in October 2025 that it is removing these known mechanisms, so newer builds require internet and a Microsoft account to finish OOBE.

Allow the Shift+F10 command prompt during an in-place upgrade — via Microsoft Learn

The easy way

Command

Sources

More in Setup & Install