I wonder, if it is possible to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Enterprise like with Windows 8.1 where you can add features by entering a valid key for Pro. I'd test it, if I wouldn't have to reinstall everything in case it doesn't work...
I ask, because I need Remote Desktop for work, which Win10 Home hasn't.
45 Answers
Windows 10 Home can be upgraded to Windows 10 Education in-place. To upgrade to Enterprise, though, you need Pro installed first however.
5The standard way to upgrade from one version of Windows to another is to use Change Product Key on the Control Panel System page. There are other ways using the command line, but in most cases they just do the same thing.
But unfortunately you cannot upgrade directly from Windows 10 Home to Enterprise. If you try to enter a new product key you will get an error such as "Error code 0xc004f050".
However, it seems you can upgrade by a two step process. First enter a Windows 10 Pro key. After a warning, the system will proceed to install new components, reboot once or twice and then magic! Now you have a Windows 10 Pro system. It will still need to be activated.
Now you can go back to Change Product Key, enter that Windows 10 Enterprise key and it just works. Since this is a MAK/KMS key it will need to contact a key server.
Assuming you have an MSDN subscription, both keys can be obtained from the MSDN licence key page. If you prefer to use your corporate keys, that should be OK too.
You may also be able to get to Pro using the standard Microsoft key (which cannot be activated), but I haven't tried this. The key is: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
4You cannot upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Enterprise by entering a valid Windows 10 Enterprise key to Windows 10 Home. I have tried that on my Windows 10 Home. I afraid you have to do a clean install :(
You can however, upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro by entering a valid Pro key.
@Ramhound has mentioned this as well in the comments.
1Ian Pringle is correct. Go to:
Then scroll go to "Windows Server Semi-Annual Channel versions" and "Windows Server, version 1903 and Windows Server, version 1809" and I used "Windows Server Standard N2KJX-J94YW-TQVFB-DG9YT-724CC"
I entered this key in "Activation Settings" page of Win10 Home, by clicking on "Change Product Key" Note: Win 10 Home was already activated before this step.
Win 10 Home 1903 -> Win 10 Enterprise 1903. The upgrade worked quickly and easily (after at least one automatic restart) And it automatically activated itself as well. Possible caveat: This is Win10 Enterprise that validates itself from a KMS server.
(before I tried this, I also set the kms server explicitly, but this step might not be necessary, especially if the KMS is set correctly in DNS etc - slmgr.vbs /skms kms1.server.com:1688 - replace server.com with your KMS)
Wanted to contribute an up to date answer. You can upgrade Windows 10 Home directly to Enterprise. If you are licesning with KMS then you will want the KMS keys found here
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