Windows 11 upgrade – This is how you check if your PC is compatible
In this guide we explain in detail how you can automatically and manually check whether your PC is compatible with Windows 11.
Later this year Microsoft will in principle come with Windows 11, but that is only for new PCs. Starting in early 2022, Windows 10 will allow users to upgrade to the brand new operating system. But can your PC handle that? With each new version of the OS, the system requirements also increase a bit. In this article we therefore explain how you can best check whether your PC is compatible with Windows 11.
Is your PC compatible with Windows 11?
Anyone who wants to upgrade to Windows 11 in early 2022 will have to ask themselves whether that is possible. The good news is that roughly all modern PCs will be able to handle the operating system. After all, Windows won’t run on 1.3 billion devices if only NASA PCs can handle it. The bad news is that the system requirements in some areas are four times higher than Windows 10.
Health Check
Fortunately, Microsoft has a special app called PC Health Check to check if your PC will be compatible with Windows 11. You can download PC Health Check from Microsoft’s blog post (here’s a direct download link).
- Install the application, click on complete
- Open PC Health Check
- click on Search Now. The app checks if your PC can handle the upgrade
Again good news and bad news. The good news is that the app checks everything for you and offers other useful features as well. The ‘health’ of your system can be improved with the application.
The bad news is that the app can sometimes give a false negative result. My PC would not be compatible with the OS. But my system far exceeds the minimum requirements. Microsoft is aware of the issue and is working on a fix.
System requirements
To transcend the arbitrariness of the app, you can of course also check yourself what the system requirements for Windows 11 are. Below is a summary of all the requirements that your computer must meet.
| Processor | 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster |
| 2 or more cores with compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC) | |
| RAM | 4GB RAM |
| Storage area | 64 GB or more |
| Graphics Card | DirectX 12 compatible / WDDM 2.x |
| Display | At least 9 inches with HD resolution (720p) |
| Firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot possible |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 |
| Internet | Internet connection and Microsoft account |
