Windows 10 LTSC Key: Stay on Windows 10 with Security Updates

Windows 10 LTSC key: stay on Windows 10 without losing security updates

Windows 10 version 22H2 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and the one-year consumer ESU program ended on October 13, 2026: Home PCs no longer receive security fixes, and Pro PCs only get them through the paid ESU program for organizations. A Windows 10 LTSC key opens another path. LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) is an Enterprise edition whose version is frozen on release day and which keeps its own lifecycle of five to ten years. No workaround and no hack: it is a Microsoft servicing channel, originally designed for industrial controllers, medical equipment, kiosks and fleets that cannot change version every year.

In practice, a PC running Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 keeps receiving its Patch Tuesday fixes until January 2029 through the usual channels (Windows Update, WSUS, Intune), and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 until January 2032. For many fleets this is a more durable route than paying for business ESU year after year; our page on Windows 10 end of support compares all the options.

Which Windows 10 LTSC version should you choose?

Four versions are still in circulation. The choice depends mainly on the age of your hardware and on how long the PC must stay in service.

With Enterprise LTSC 2021 support ending in January 2027, the long-term choices today are IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 (21H2 kernel, better support for recent processors, WSL 2) and Enterprise LTSC 2019, if you need to run until 2029 or if your business drivers only exist for version 1809. The 2016 LTSB no longer receives security updates: keep it for offline machines that depend on legacy software.

What LTSC removes, and what it keeps

An LTSC image is deliberately lean. You will not find:

• the Microsoft Store or the preinstalled consumer apps (Mail and Calendar, Maps, Weather, games);
• promotional content in the Start menu and, depending on the version, Cortana;
• annual feature updates: the build never moves.

Everything else is intact: full Win32 compatibility, standard drivers, .NET, Hyper-V, BitLocker, Microsoft Defender, Group Policy, domain join and AppLocker. Office suites and other desktop applications install as on any Windows 10 PC, including the Windows versions in our Office catalog. For a user who wants the Store and modern apps every day, however, a classic edition is more comfortable: if the hardware allows it, Windows 11 Pro is the easier daily system.

Hardware compatibility and installation

This is the other decisive argument: Windows 10 LTSC requires neither TPM 2.0, nor Secure Boot, nor an 8th-generation processor. A 2013 PC rejected by Windows 11 starts without trouble with a 1 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended) and 32 GB of storage. That is enough to extend the life of a fleet that a hardware refresh would otherwise retire. Our guide to Windows 11 without TPM explains why these PCs cannot simply move to Windows 11.

One important caveat: you cannot move from Windows 10 Pro to LTSC with a simple upgrade, as Microsoft does not support that switch. You need a clean installation from the Enterprise LTSC ISO, then you enter the key in Settings > Update & Security > Activation, or at the command line with slmgr /ipk followed by slmgr /ato. Back up your data and plan to reinstall your applications; our Windows 10 installation guide details each step.

Plan the next step now

LTSC buys time; it does not replace a migration plan. Use the remaining years of support to list your machines, test your business applications on Windows 11 and schedule hardware replacements well before 2029 or 2032. Machines that already meet the Windows 11 requirements are usually better moved to Windows 11 straight away, while LTSC keeps the older ones secure in the meantime.

Genuine keys, delivered by email

Our licenses come from decommissioned European business fleets and are resold within the framework confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (UsedSoft ruling, case C-128/11). This second-hand market is what keeps the price low, without affecting the authenticity of the activation or access to security updates.

Every order includes delivery by email, usually within a few minutes (48 business hours at most), a VAT invoice in your customer account, lifetime replacement of a faulty key and email assistance 7 days a week, with a reply within 2 hours on average, via our support page.