Published August 2021
This article is intended for users who are not able to upgrade to Windows 11 because their PC is not currently Secure Boot capable. If you are unfamiliar with this level of technical detail, we recommend that you consult your PC manufacturer’s support information for more instructions specific to your device.
Secure Boot is an important security feature designed to prevent malicious software from loading when your PC starts up (boots). Most modern PCs are capable of Secure Boot, but in some instances, there may be settings that cause the PC to appear to not be capable of Secure Boot. These settings can be changed in the PC firmware. Firmware, often called BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), is the software that starts up before Windows when you first turn on your PC.
To access these settings, you can consult your PC manufacturer’s documentation or follow these instructions: Run Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and select Restart now under Advanced startup. From the next screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings > Restart to make changes.
To change these settings, you will need to switch the PC boot mode from one enabled as “Legacy” BIOS (also known as “CSM” Mode) to UEFI/BIOS (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). In some cases, there are options to enable both UEFI and Legacy/CSM. If so, you will need to choose for UEFI to be the first or only option. If you are unsure how to make any necessary changes to enable the UEFI/BIOS, we recommend that you check your PC manufacturer’s support information on their website. Here are a few links to information from some PC manufacturers to help get you started:
While the requirement to upgrade a Windows 10 device to Windows 11 is only that the PC be Secure Boot capable by having UEFI/BIOS enabled, you may also consider enabling or turning Secure Boot on for better security.