Most consumer PCs ship with Windows 11 Home — it covers everyday tasks well, but it deliberately leaves out features that power users and professionals rely on. If you need BitLocker drive encryption, Remote Desktop, Group Policy, Hyper-V virtual machines, or the ability to join a corporate domain, you need Windows 11 Pro.
The good news is that moving from Home to Pro does not require a fresh install, a USB drive, or any risk to your files and applications. This guide walks you through an in-place upgrade using a single PowerShell command — your data stays exactly where it is, and the switch takes only a few minutes.
PS C:\> Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object OSName, WindowsEditionIdOsName WindowsEditionId------ ----------------Microsoft Windows 11 Home CoreUpgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro without reinstalling
To upgrade Windows 11 Home to Pro without a product key or reinstalling, we can use PowerShell for automation. The advantages of this method are:
- All data and applications on the system will remain intact. No need to worry about any data loss.
- The methods work seamlessly with all versions of Windows, including Windows Server.
- For Windows Server: The script can convert from Server Evaluation to Standard or Datacenter editions. It can also be used for switching between editions, such as upgrading from ServerStandard to ServerDatacenter or vice versa.
- For Windows clients: The script can convert, upgrade, downgrade, or switch between editions, such as upgrading from Home to Pro or downgrading from Enterprise to Pro.
- The script works on both Windows 64-bit and Windows 32-bit systems.
- The script automatically activates the Windows license after conversion.
1. First, right-click on the Windows Start icon, then select Terminal (Admin) to open a PowerShell window with administrative privileges.
2. Type the following command in the opened PowerShell window then hit Enter ↵ button.
3. A new window will appear, allowing you to choose the target edition you wish to convert to.
4. Select a target edition and then click on the Submit button to start the conversation. For instance, I will convert from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro.
5. The process may take a while to complete. Once it’s done, the Windows license will be automatically activated through a KMS activation server.
6. After finishing, close PowerShell and open Windows Settings to verify the activation status.
To use a different product key on this device, select Change product key.
Verify the Windows edition
It’s recommended restarting the computer, and once it has restarted, you can use PowerShell to run the command that verifies the Windows edition.
# OutputPS C:\> Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object OSName, WindowsEditionIdOsName WindowsEditionId------ ----------------Microsoft Windows 11 Pro ProfessionalThe following command will display the license information details.
# Output PS C:\> cscript C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs /dlvMicrosoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 10.0Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Software licensing service version: 10.0.26100.4768Name: Windows(R), Professional editionDescription: Windows(R) Operating System, VOLUME_KMSCLIENT channelActivation ID: 2de67392-b7a7-462a-b1ca-108dd189f588Application ID: 55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059fExtended PID: 03612-03311-000-000001-03-1033-26100.0000-2212025Product Key Channel: Volume:GVLKInstallation ID: 416604435870944966455448081250322240542004041281286393606051283Partial Product Key: T83GXLicense Status: LicensedVolume activation expiration: 259195 minute(s) (180 day(s))Remaining Windows rearm count: 1001Remaining SKU rearm count: 1001Trusted time: 8/9/2025 5:58:36 PMConfigured Activation Type: AllMost recent activation information:Key Management Service client information Client Machine ID (CMID): 3879c29a-b31c-48e3-8c72-1699ac03fe0d Registered KMS machine name: kms.msgang.com:1688 KMS machine IP address: 172.190.68.176 KMS machine extended PID: 03612-00206-175-350050-03-5146-10240.0000-1322022 Activation interval: 120 minutes Renewal interval: 244800 minutes KMS host caching is enabledAnd the advanced features should be available on your Windows. For example, now you can enable the Remote Desktop without any limitations.
Conclusion
Hello Friends! My name is Leo, and I’m excited to share everything I know about activating Microsoft software products. In the past, I managed several YouTube channels on this topic, but they were taken down by Microsoft. That’s why I decided to start this blog to keep the conversation alive without interruptions. I’m committed to sharing my knowledge and insights for as long as possible!
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment or visit my Discord server. I’d be happy to provide more details. Thank you so much for your feedback and support!
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