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Install Windows 11 from Microsoft installation media

Create a Windows 11 USB stick or ISO with Microsoft's tools, install the edition that matches your key, and know which editions need an extra step.

Help Center
Installation & Licensing
Platform
windows
min read
60 min

You get the product key from us. For Home, Pro and Enterprise, the installation files come from Microsoft; LTSC has its own section. This guide takes you from the order email to Windows 11 in the edition you ordered. Entering and checking the key has its own guide: Activate Windows 11.

What is in your order

Your order confirmation email contains a 25-character product key, shown in this guide as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. The same key is in your Lizensa account under My Library. Next to the key you find a link to Microsoft's Windows 11 download page. There is no file to download from us yet; for LTSC, an installer link follows later, as the LTSC section explains.

How you install depends on the edition you ordered:

Before you start

Check the PC against Microsoft's minimum requirements for Windows 11:

  • a 64-bit processor with 1 GHz or more and at least 2 cores, on Microsoft's list of approved CPUs;
  • 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage;
  • UEFI firmware with Secure Boot capability, and TPM version 2.0;
  • graphics compatible with DirectX 12 and a WDDM 2.0 driver;
  • a display of at least 720p, larger than 9 inches diagonally, with 8 bits per colour channel.

On a PC that runs Windows 10, Microsoft's PC Health Check app tells you whether it qualifies. Details are on Microsoft's page Windows 11 system requirements. Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro for personal use need an internet connection and a Microsoft account during the first setup.

A clean installation can delete the files, apps and settings on the drive you install on. Back up your files first.

Getting the installation files

Open Microsoft's Download Windows 11 page. The link is also in your order email and in your account. The page offers three tools:

  • Windows 11 Installation Assistant upgrades the PC you are using now. It needs Windows 10 version 2004 or later and 9 GB of free disk space.
  • Create Windows 11 Installation Media downloads the Media Creation Tool. It writes a bootable USB stick for a clean installation, on this PC or another one.
  • Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) gives you a multi-edition ISO file. Your product key decides which edition it unlocks.

All three are for PCs with x64 processors. On an Arm-based PC you cannot use them.

Make a USB stick with the Media Creation Tool

You need a blank USB stick with at least 8 GB. Everything on it is deleted.

  1. Under Create Windows 11 Installation Media, select Download Now.
  2. Run the downloaded MediaCreationTool.exe. You need administrator rights: when Windows asks whether the app may make changes, select Yes.
  3. Read the licence terms and select Accept.
  4. On the page What do you want to do?, select Create installation media for another PC, then Next.
  5. Choose the language and the 64-bit architecture. If you upgrade an existing Windows installation, choose the language it already uses.
  6. Select USB flash drive, pick your stick and select Next.
  7. Wait until the tool says the drive is ready, then close it.

Installing Windows 11

Clean installation from the USB stick

  1. Plug the USB stick into the PC and restart it.
  2. If the PC does not start from the stick, open its boot menu. Usually you press a key such as F2, F12, Delete or Esc right after switching on. The key depends on the manufacturer.
  3. On the Install Windows page, choose your language, time and keyboard settings, then select Next.
  4. Select Install Windows and follow the steps on screen.
  5. When setup asks for a product key, choose one of two ways:
    • Home, Home N, Pro, Pro N: enter your key. Setup then installs the matching edition.
    • Pro with a volume key (MAK), and Enterprise: select I don't have a product key and choose Windows 11 Pro in the list. You enter your key after the installation.
  6. Accept the licence terms and choose the drive to install on.
  7. Let the PC restart several times. Do not switch it off. At the end, set up your account and region.

Setup may skip the edition list. Many PCs sold with Windows carry a key for their original edition in the firmware. If that key matches an edition on the media, setup uses it on its own. Your PC then might start with Windows 11 Home, although you ordered Pro. If that Home is activated, you do not need to reinstall: enter your Pro key under Change product key as shown below. Microsoft supports this change from Home to Pro; it needs a restart.

Upgrade this PC from Windows 10

To keep your files and apps, run the Windows 11 Installation Assistant on the PC. Select Accept and Install, then Restart Now when it is ready. Alternatively, right-click the ISO file, select Mount and start setup.exe from the new drive. Both ways keep the edition you have: Windows 10 Home becomes Windows 11 Home, Pro becomes Pro. To change the edition afterwards, see the activation steps below.

Enterprise LTSC and IoT Enterprise LTSC

The Media Creation Tool and Microsoft's ISO contain no LTSC editions. Microsoft does not support an in-place upgrade from a normal Windows 11 installation (general availability channel) to LTSC. A key for Enterprise LTSC 2024 or IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 will not activate the Windows 11 Pro from these tools.

Do not use the Media Creation Tool for LTSC, and do not install Windows 11 Pro in the hope of switching later. We will provide the LTSC installer ourselves: your installer link follows in your order email and in your account under My Library. Until the link is there, contact our support with your order number before you install. LTSC is activated with its key in the same way as the other editions.

Activating Windows 11

Home, Pro and Enterprise

If you skipped the key during setup, or setup did not ask for it, enter it once the desktop appears:

  1. Select Start > Settings > System > Activation.
  2. Next to Change product key, select Change.
  3. If Windows asks whether the app may make changes, select Yes.
  4. Type your key and select Next. Then follow the prompts.

Enterprise: this step changes Windows 11 Pro into Windows 11 Enterprise. Microsoft supports the change from Pro to Enterprise without a restart.

Pro with a volume key (MAK)

A volume key activates over the internet like any other key. Each MAK allows a fixed number of activations, and every online activation counts towards it. The command line steps are in Activate Windows 11.

No internet on this PC

If the PC cannot reach Microsoft's activation servers, activate by telephone:

  1. Select Start and type the following, then open the result:
SLUI 04
  1. Follow the steps on screen. You call Microsoft, give the installation ID shown and enter the confirmation ID you receive.

Details, including the way for volume keys, are under telephone activation in the activation guide.

Check that the installation worked

  1. Open Settings > System > Activation.
  2. The top of the page shows the installed edition, for example Windows 11 Pro.
  3. Next to Activation state, Windows shows whether it is activated.

Compare the edition with your order. If Windows 11 Home is installed but you ordered Pro, setup may have used a Home key from the firmware. Check that Home is activated, then enter your Pro key as described above. If Windows 11 Pro is installed, entering your Enterprise key changes it to Windows 11 Enterprise.

If something goes wrong

The PC starts the old Windows instead of the USB stick. Open the boot menu and pick the USB device. If the stick is not listed, follow the manufacturer's instructions for starting from USB. Microsoft notes that some PCs only start from USB after Secure Boot is turned off temporarily; ask the manufacturer how, and turn it on again after setup.

Setup says the PC does not meet the requirements. Run the PC Health Check app on the current Windows to see which requirement fails. TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are sometimes present but turned off in the firmware settings. Microsoft advises against installing Windows 11 on a PC that does not meet the minimum requirements. Such a PC is not supported and is not entitled to updates.

Setup does not accept the key. Check every character against your order email. Product keys never contain the letters O, I, L or U. If the key still fails with Home or Pro, select I don't have a product key, choose the edition that matches your order and enter the key after the installation. For Enterprise, install Pro first. For LTSC, contact our support before you install. Background: error 0xC004F050.

Windows reports that the key is for a different edition. The installed edition does not match the key, for example an Enterprise key on Windows 11 Home. A Pro key on an activated Home works through Change product key. An Enterprise key needs Windows 11 Pro first: if you only have the Enterprise key, reinstall, select Windows 11 Pro and enter the key again. If setup picks Home on its own and offers no choice, contact our support before you continue. See error 0xC004E016.

The Media Creation Tool stops with an error. Check the internet connection, free disk space and the USB stick. Try another stick or create an ISO file instead.

The Installation Assistant does not start. It needs Windows 10 version 2004 or later, 9 GB of free space and an x64 processor. On an x64 PC with an older Windows, use the USB stick instead.

Still stuck? Contact our support with your order number and the exact message you see.

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