How to Check if Your Computer Can Run Windows 11

From its intuitively designed multitasking features to its new app library, Windows 11 is optimized to deliver a fresh experience for work, study, and entertainment. The operating system’s interface closely resembles that of Windows 10X, a platform Microsoft developed for some time before discontinuing it.

How can you determine if your computer is compatible with Windows 11? To address this, Microsoft provides a PC Health Check tool, allowing users to assess whether their system can upgrade to or install the new operating system.

Microsoft released the official PC Health Check App just hours after unveiling Windows 11. Once installed, the software indicates whether your computer is compatible with the new OS. However, the initial version did not explain why a system might be incompatible.

In the updated version launched on June 27, the tool now specifies which components are incompatible, enabling users to replace or modify them for Windows 11 compatibility.

To use the tool, download the latest version of PC Health Check App here. After installation, sign in with your Microsoft account to check your computer’s compatibility.

Common reasons for incompatibility include less than 64 GB of free storage, unsupported processors, and the absence of Secure Boot or TPM 2.0.

For hardware, Windows 11 requires the following minimum specifications:

– 64-bit processor with a speed of 1 GHz or higher, featuring at least two cores.
– Only select newer processor models are supported.

Windows 11 supports the following Intel chips:

• Intel 8th Gen (Coffee Lake)
• Intel 9th Gen (Coffee Lake Refresh)
• Intel 10th Gen (Comet Lake)
• Intel 10th Gen (Ice Lake)
• Intel 11th Gen (Rocket Lake)
• Intel 11th Gen (Tiger Lake)
• Intel Xeon Skylake-SP
• Intel Xeon Cascade Lake-SP
• Intel Xeon Cooper Lake-SP
• Intel Xeon Ice Lake-SP

Windows 11 supports the following AMD chips:

• AMD Ryzen 2000
• AMD Ryzen 3000
• AMD Ryzen 4000
• AMD Ryzen 5000
• AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2000
• AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000
• AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000
• AMD EPYC 2nd Gen
• AMD EPYC 3rd Gen

– Minimum 4 GB RAM.
– Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.
– Graphics card compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with WDDM 2.0 driver.

Microsoft also notes that devices in S Mode must exit this mode before upgrading. Additionally, S Mode is only available on the Windows 11 Home Edition.