Important Notes Regarding the Upgrading from Windows Home to Windows Education
- Back up your personal data to an alternate location (example external drive). OU IT is not responsible for any data lost during the upgrade process.
- Store your personal Windows Education Product Key in a secure location and always accessible location (not your OUHSC account). When upgrading from Windows Home to Windows Education you will be presented with a personal Windows Education Product Key. OU IT is not able to access your personally assigned key.
- Additional Windows License Information:
- Users are allowed one (1) free Windows license download while an OU user.
- When selecting your Windows Education download, please ensure you are selecting a version of Education your computer will support. In order to ensure likely compatibility, this would mean if you have Windows 11 Home, download 11 Education.
OU policy requires device encryption on laptop computers that may store sensitive or confidential information (e.g., SSN and financial information, patient information). For laptops used by OU Health Sciences Center, the presumption is that the device may be used for this purpose so it must therefore be encrypted. For this reason, students should backup and encrypt their laptops. The instructions below outline how to update your computer to Windows 11 Education, encrypt your device and then get it set up for encryption management.
These responsibilities apply to Approved Personal Devices:
- You are responsible for any and all University data saved to this device. Using a personal device DOES NOT remove you from responsibility to protect University data.
- In the event you believe your device might be compromised, you must immediately notify OU IT of the potential security risk.
- If you lose or misplace your device, you must immediately notify OU IT of the potential security risk.
- When you graduate, you must delete University data and notify OU IT that your device will no longer be used.
Windows Education Update
Follow this guide to upgrade your computer from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Education in preparation for encrypting your device.
- Your computer must have at least the following hardware specifications:
- Processor: Intel i5 or better
- Memory: 8GB RAM or better
- Storage: 256GB Solid State Drive (128GB minimum)
- Screen size: 13" or higher
- Connectivity: WiFi and Bluetooth
- Expansion: USB 3 or higher
- The below instructions are for those computers running Windows 11 Home. If your computer is running Windows 10 Enterprise or 10 Professional, do not upgrade to Education. You may proceed to our BitLocker encryption article.
Upgrade Windows 11 Home to Education
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To begin, clear the cache and cookies of the browser you are using.
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Use InPrivate or Incognito browser.
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Go to https://signup.azure.com/studentverification?offerType=3. (If you experience an error logging into Azure, please look at the Azure Login Error Steps)
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Enter your school email address and password then hit ‘Next’.
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Upon signing in, you may be asked to agree to the terms and conditions and the Academic/Student verification. If not, you should be routed to the Education | Overview page.
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To see software available, please click ‘Software tab’, search for the software needed (Windows 11 Education), click on ‘View Key’ to get the Product key, and ‘Download’ to download the software. 
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Note that the difference between Windows 11 Education and Windows 11 Education N is that the N version will remove the Media Player as part of the operating system.
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If you don't see a Windows 10/11 Education license in the list, please click on the "Keys" column to find it.
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Click the Windows key in the lower left corner of your computer’s desktop, type Notepad and then press the Enter key.
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Paste the Product Key, click File, Save As.. and enter the file name as “Windows11ProductKey”.
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In Windows, click the taskbar and search for Settings.
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Click System, then Activation.
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Click on Upgrade your edition of Windows to expand it open, then click on the Change button to Change product key.
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If you still have the product key copied, paste it in the field provided and click “Next” (If you don’t have the product key copied, navigate to where your saved it earlier, copy it, and paste it in the field provided and click “Next”). 
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Windows will now upgrade to Education edition; click “Start”. 
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After preparing the upgrade, Windows will restart and add new features. 
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Once Windows has restarted again, sign back in.
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Click on the taskbar and open Settings once again.
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Click System, then Activation to verify you’re now on Windows 11 Education.
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Now search for “Check for Updates”.
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Click “Advanced options”.
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Under “Update options,” turn ON updates for other Microsoft products. Under “Update notifications,” turn ON notifications for restarts.
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Click back to return to Check for updates.
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Select to install any available updates. Windows will probably need to restart.
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Once Windows restarts, sign back in.
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Repeat steps 21-22 until the message states, “You’re up to date”.
How to Address Azure Login Error
If you are using a Windows computer and can't access your free windows upgrade from Azure because of getting an error like this one: "We couldn't sign you in. Please try again." despite signing in with their correct HSC email address/password, then make sure you have your Date and time synchronized on your Windows PC.
Go to your start menu and type "Date and Time" to adjust these settings as shown below.
Then log into portal.azure.com again with your HSC email address and password to get access to your Windows Education upgrade.
Next Steps - Encrypt Your Device
Now that your computer has updated to Windows 11 Education, you can encrypt your device with BitLocker. For instructions on enabling BitLocker on Windows 10 Professional or 10 Education, please see our guide for turning on BitLocker encryption.