The biggest flaw the Surface Laptop has is the Windows 10 S operating system. Fortunately, upgrading Surface Laptop to Windows 10 Pro is easy. You can do it for free.
Windows 10 S is a lightweight version of Windows that allows Surface Laptops to last longer between charges. Laptops with the operating system also boot faster. These performance improvements come at a cost. Microsoft blocks you from downloading programs from the internet. This means that you cannot install the copy of Microsoft Office you already have. You cannot download iTunes to transfer your music to your iPhone. Professional software like Photoshop is not available for you.
Here’s how to upgrade Surface Laptop to Windows 10 Pro. After the upgrade, you can install programs from the internet and Windows Store apps.
Before you begin, locate and connect the Surface Laptop power cable. Windows 10 does not allow major upgrades without a power connection. This will prevent your device from dying and taking your important files with it.
Then back up anything you previously moved to your Surface Laptop to a flash drive, external hard drive, or Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage.
You don’t need the fastest internet connection to upgrade Surface Laptop to Windows 10 Pro. The files to migrate are already on your PC. In fact, you can use the Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone or any nearby free Wi-Fi to upgrade. This high speed internet connection is only for unlocking the upgrade in the Windows Store.
Press the key on your keyboard to open the start menu. You can click the Windows button in the lower left corner of your screen to open Start as well.
Look for the icon in your list of installed apps. You may also have the Store pinned to your Start area. Selecting it in both places will open.
Use the icon in the upper right corner of the Windows Store to search for “Windows 10 Pro”.
Choose from the drop-down menu.
This is the Windows 10 Pro upgrade page. In our example, the button shows “Buy”. Do not worry. Microsoft is giving a free Windows 10 Pro upgrade to anyone who buys a Surface Laptop before the end of 2017. The upgrade will cost $50 after this promotion ends.
You should see a button on this page. Click that button.
The Windows Store will guide you through the rest of the process. You will need to confirm that you have a backup of your files. Your PC will notify you when the upgrade is complete.
You need to confirm that the Windows Store has activated your new copy of Windows 10 Pro. Open the application from the Launch area. It is the gear on the far left edge.
Click .
Click .
Look at the top of the window to verify that your upgrade to Windows 10 Pro is active.
That’s all you need to do. Now you can install programs from anywhere.
Expect your battery life to decrease after a few hours. Windows 10 will take more time to load after you restart your computer or wake it from hibernation. This is normal.
If you don’t like it, you won’t be stuck with Windows 10 Pro. Open the Settings app again and click on it.
Click .
Select the button under Revert to Previous Version of Windows 10.
You have a month to go back to Windows 10 S before it gets hard to do. After that, Windows 10’s storage management tool will delete your old operating system. If this happens, you need to download Windows 10 S from: Surface Support website to return. Restoring Windows 10 S in this way requires a high-speed internet connection and a flash drive with 16GB of storage.
