No, you will not lose your data when you upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on your personal computer that has been found to be compatible to run Windows 11. There seem to be lots of aspersions in the minds of Windows 10 users with the Windows 11 upgrade process and its likely impact on the user data.
Can I update to Windows 11 without losing data?
We receive so many related queries of users about upgrading to Windows 11. Most queries focus on common questions like – Can I update to Windows 11 without losing data? Or, the more common one – Will my data be erased if I upgrade to Windows 11? For folks who have anything related to user data and Windows 11 upgrade, we will like to reiterate that upgrading to Windows 11 will not cause any data loss on your system.
The upgrade process from Windows 10 to Windows 11 will happen through Windows system files. User data and application data remains untouched. So, if you allow the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 to happen naturally, through the Windows Update Program, you have no risk of losing data due to the upgrade on your system.
However, we still suggest that you must take frequent and regular backups of critical data. You could back this data on your Google drive or on the One drive. Off-site backup for personal computers must be adopted as a best practice. You never know when your hard drive may fail you. Aside from that, it is prudent to take the back up of operating system image on an external drive. This should be done before you upgrade the Windows 10 to Windows 11 system. Basically, we create an image of a working order of operating system from our system’s hard drive to an external media or external hard disk. It won’t hurt, and could be a life saver should anything catastrophic happen during the upgrade.
We have had so many discussions about users asking about losing data after an upgrade. All such discussions on Microsoft’s tech community and forums have been answered to assure the Windows 10 users that there is no issue of data loss when Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 11 through the Windows Update. In effect, since the original launch of Windows 10 in 2015, we have had so many update cycles during the last 6 years. Similar to these Windows updates, the Windows 10 to Windows 11 update should be a seamless update for most Windows 10 users.
Windows 11 launches on October 5, 2021. Over the next 6 months, we should see most eligible computers successfully upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 through the regular Windows update program on your personal computer.
Summary –
Windows 10 to Windows 11 does not affect user or application data. However, taking regular backups of critical user and application data is suggested before you upgrade the system from Windows 10 to Windows 11. If you are able to take a backup of the Windows 10 image running on the system before an upgrade happens, that would be the best possible scenario to handle any failures on the upgrade to Windows 11 operating system.
Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.