Windows 11 may look like it has undergone a cosmetic change over Windows 10, but looking at the Windows 11 system requirements, it seems there is more to it under the hood. It seems Windows 11 is only going to run on recently-released PCs and not older computers. We have even written a quick guide to check if your Windows 10 PC can run Windows 11 using the PC Health Check app. But if you want to learn about the detailed Windows 11 system requirements, jump to our explainer below.
Windows 11 System Requirements Detailed
Here are the minimum system requirements for running Windows 11 on a laptop or desktop. If we take a good look at the requirements, it seems even some newer-built desktops won’t be able to run Windows 11 as largely motherboards tend to not come with TPM onboard, let alone TPM 2.0. Some motherboards do come with fTPM support, which should make way for Windows 11.
Not to mention, the 64-bit processor requirement makes it clear that Microsoft wants to do away with older PCs. Interestingly, Microsoft has not mentioned any specific hardware requirements to run Android apps on Windows 11. The support for Android apps is made possible by Intel Bridge Technology. Will Windows 11 running on AMD processors be able to run Android apps? We don’t know yet.
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device
- System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
- TPM: TPM Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
- Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
- Display: High definition (720p) display, greater than 9-inch diagonally and 8 bits per color channel support
- Internet connection and Microsoft accounts: Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity.
Feature-specific Requirements for Windows 11
Apart from the minimum system requirements for Windows 11, Microsoft has also detailed specifications for using some of Windows 11-specific features. You can read them here, but here is the gist.
- 5G support, of course, requires a 5G capable modem.
- Auto HDR support requires an HDR monitor.
- Bit Locker to Go requires a USB flash drive and will be available in Windows 11 Pro and above editions.
- Client Hyper-V requires a processor with second-level address translation (SLAT) capabilities. It will be available in Windows Pro and above editions.
- The use of Cortana requires a microphone and speaker. It is currently available on Windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Direct Storage requires 1 TB or greater NVMe SSD to store and run games that use the “Standard NVM Express Controller” driver and a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU.
- DirectX 12 Ultimate is available with supported games and GPUs.
- Presence requires a sensor that can detect human distance from the device or intent to interact with the device.
- Intelligent Video Conferencing features require a video camera, microphone, and speaker.
- Multiple Voice Assistant (MVA) also requires a microphone and speaker.
- The three-column Snap layout requires a screen that is 1920 effective pixels or is greater in width.
- Mute/ Unmute from Taskbar requires a video camera, microphone, and speaker. The app must also be compatible with feature to enable global mute/ unmute.
- Spatial Sound also requires supporting hardware and software.
- The Microsoft Teams integration in the taskbar requires a video camera, microphone, and speaker.
- Touch support requires a screen or monitor that supports multi-touch.
- Two-factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a smartphone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support.
- Voice Typing feature requires a PC with a microphone.
- The handy Wake on Voice feature requires a Modern Standby power model and microphone.
- Wi-Fi 6E requires new WLAN IHV hardware and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E capable AP/ router, as per the official Windows 11 system requirements list.
- Windows Hello biometric authentication requires a camera configured for near-infrared (IR) imaging or a fingerprint reader. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or a portable Microsoft security key.
- Windows Projection requires a display adapter that supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
- The Xbox app requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions.
Check out Minimum Hardware Requirements to Run Windows 11
So this is an exhaustive list of requirements needed to run Windows 11. Going by the specifications, it will be hard to run Windows 11 on older PCs. Nevertheless, there will be support by the developer community on how to run Windows 11 without TPM or UEFI support. Basically, you can run Windows 11 on computers having BIOS firmware, but it will be impossible to get the new OS running on a 32-bit processor. Anyway, that is all from us. If you have any questions, comment down below and let us know.
