• At no additional cost if you are syncing your PC Settings.*

• Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points.
• One-time purchase of $30 USD or local currency equivalent plus applicable tax.

1. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. If your device meets the prerequisites, you’ll see a link to enroll in ESU.
2. Once you select “Enroll now” you’ll start the ESU enrollment. If you are signed into Windows with a local account, you will be prompted to sign into your Microsoft account. If you are already backing up your PC Settings, you will see a prompt to enroll your device.
3. If you aren’t backing up your Windows settings, you can choose if you want to begin backing up your settings, redeem Rewards, or make a one-time purchase to enroll in ESU.

Don’t know if you are signed in with a Microsoft or Local account? On your computer:

• Open the Start menu and click on your profile picture or the gear icon to open Settings. 
• Click on Accounts, then Your info. 
• Look at the information displayed. An email address indicates a Microsoft account, while “Local Account” indicates a local account.

To partake in the ESU program, you must have a Microsoft account. But what if you don’t know if you have one or not?

A Microsoft account can be one that is your own email address (regardless of who it is with, such as gmail), or can be a hotmail.com, live.com or outlook.com email.

If you are sure you don’t have one, you can create one for this purpose – use your own primary email to sign up, do not create a new email address!

If you’re unsure if you have a Microsoft Account, try logging in here: https://account.microsoft.com/ 

Sign in support article: How to sign in to a Microsoft account

The kicker here is that you must sync your PC to OneDrive. They want your data, they want your information and they want you to pay for storage to keep your machine “backed up”. You do NOT need to sync all of your information and computer files to OneDrive. If you aren’t already doing this, this is a ploy to get you to “need” their subscription offerings for more storage.

Sync PC settings only – to include the settings you picked in the Settings app but not your WiFi Passwords or anything – that’s a separate thing you can choose to backup, but are not required to.

That said, the free option here comes with two catches. The first is that you’ll be linking your Windows login to Microsoft’s cloud-based online service. Some users may have already done this (CoPilot, Office 365, GamePass, OneDrive or one of Microsoft’s other various online services). But if you’ve specifically opted for a local login to Windows, the price you’re paying for this “free” extension is joining the cloud-connected Microsoft universe.

The other potential issue is that the free backup only applies to the first 5 GB of storage. Anything more, and you’ll need to pay up for Microsoft’s OneDrive services. But thankfully, you can turn off anything you don’t want to back up by going to Settings > OneDrive and toggling off options like Documents, Pictures and Videos to get in under the free threshold to start.

Once you’re signed in, a window will pop up that says “Add this device to receive Extended Security Updates.” Click Add Device to enroll it. Click Done.

If you have Microsoft Rewards points, feel free to use them to apply here. You can check your points balance in your Microsoft Account.

Again, you must have a Microsoft Account to enable this option.

One-time purchase of $30 USD or local currency equivalent plus applicable tax.

This will avoid having to sync your machine to the cloud, but you’re still going to have to link a Microsoft account to your Windows machine. The ESU is expected to last for up to three years and this is an annual cost. 

My opinion is that this is the least beneficial option of the three to continue to stay on Windows 10.