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When does my computer stop getting security updates?
Three makers, three completely different kinds of answer. Google publishes a date for every Chromebook, Microsoft publishes one for every version of Windows and none for any laptop, and Apple publishes neither. This checks yours against what the maker actually published.
What are you using?
These three are asked differently on purpose. Google publishes an end date for each Chromebook, Microsoft publishes one for each version of Windows and none for any laptop, and Apple publishes neither. Picking one first is how this page avoids giving you a confident answer built on the wrong question.
Windows 10 end of life, and what ESU actually covers
End of support, end of life and EOL are three names for the same event, which is worth saying plainly because Microsoft uses the first and almost everyone searching uses one of the other two: a question about Windows 10 EOL and a question about Windows 10 end of support are the same question, and they have the same answer. The Windows 10 support end date was 14 October 2025, and version 22H2 was the last one released. Nothing switched off that morning. What ended was the supply of fixes for flaws discovered afterwards.
Extended Security Updates, written Windows 10 ESU nearly everywhere it is discussed, is Microsoft’s consumer extension of that supply, and it runs to 12 October 2027. It needs a PC on 22H2 running Home, Pro, Pro Education or Pro for Workstations. There are three ways in, and the first one costs nothing, which is the part most coverage of this leaves out:
- at no additional cost if you are syncing your PC Settings
- redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points
- a one-time purchase of $30 USD or local currency equivalent plus applicable tax
What it does not cover, in Microsoft’s own words: “ESU enrollment does not provide other types of fixes, feature improvements, or product enhancements. It also does not come with technical support.” So a machine on ESU keeps receiving critical and important security fixes and receives nothing else. Moving to Windows 11 is free on hardware that qualifies for it and ends the question entirely, and Microsoft’s consumer ESU page is where every figure above was read from.
If what actually prompted the search was that the machine feels slow rather than that a date passed, that is a different question with a different answer, and usually a cheaper one. Work out why it is slow before deciding the operating system is the problem.
Why it asks which system you use first
Because for a Windows laptop, the answer is not a fact about the laptop. Microsoft publishes end-of-servicing dates per Windows version and has never published one per model, so a 2015 ThinkPad running 25H2 is covered until October 2027 while a 2024 machine still on 24H2 stops in October 2026. The newer computer runs out first, and nothing about the hardware predicts it.
A single box asking which computer you own would have to invent the difference between those two machines. Pages that do it anyway produce a confident date by averaging what makers did before, which is a guess wearing the same typeface as a fact. Asking the question the maker actually answers costs one extra click and is the only version of this page that is true.
How long do laptops last?
Every answer you will find to this says three to five years, and none of them cite anything, because for most laptops there is nothing to cite. The hardware has no expiry date and routinely outlives its software by years. What does expire is the support, and that half is knowable, so it is the half worth planning around.
Only one kind of laptop comes with a published date. Google lists an end date for every Chromebook it has shipped, so the answer there is a fact rather than an estimate. Right now 683 of those models are still supported, and their remaining life runs from June 2027 to June 2036. That is a spread of 9 years across laptops you can buy today.
How long does a laptop last on average?
There is no average worth quoting, and the numbers above are why. An average taken across a 9-year spread describes none of the laptops in it, and the one you own sits at a specific point in that range rather than near the middle of it.
That spread is the real answer, and it is why a single number cannot be right. ChromeOS devices receive 10 years of updates. runs 10 years from the platform release date, not from the day you bought it, so two Chromebooks sitting side by side in a shop can expire most of a decade apart with nothing on the box to tell you. A Windows laptop lasts as long as the Windows version on it, which is a date Microsoft sets per release rather than per machine, and a Mac lasts as long as Apple keeps listing it, which is a list rather than a date. Check yours above instead of trusting an average.
What running out actually means
Nothing switches off. The computer starts the day after exactly as it did the day before, which is what makes this a hard deadline to take seriously. What changes is that newly discovered flaws stop being fixed, so the gap between what attackers know and what your machine is protected against only widens from there.
For Windows this rarely means buying anything. An expiring version is a free update away from a supported one on the same hardware, and even Windows 10 has a route that costs nothing. Replacing a working computer over a date is usually the most expensive answer to the problem, and it is the one most pages covering this moment recommend. If you are weighing that decision on a phone rather than a laptop, the repair or replace calculator does the same arithmetic, and the phone update checker covers handsets.
Frequently asked
When does Windows 11 stop getting security updates?
It depends on which version of Windows 11 you are running, not on which computer you own. Microsoft services each version for 24 months on Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations, and 36 months on Enterprise and Education. Version 24H2 stops receiving updates on 13 October 2026 and 25H2 on 12 October 2027. This catches people out because it means a newer laptop can run out before an older one: a 2015 machine on 25H2 is covered a year longer than a 2024 machine still on 24H2. Moving to a newer version is free and resets the clock on the same hardware. One trap worth knowing: 26H1 is a higher number than 25H2 but it is not a route off an expiring version, because Microsoft scoped it to new devices that came to market in early 2026 and does not offer it as an in-place update from 24H2 or 25H2. Press the Windows key and R, type winver and press Enter to see which version you are on.
Is Windows 10 still getting security updates?
Not by default. Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, and version 22H2 was the final version. Microsoft's consumer Extended Security Updates programme continues to deliver critical and important security updates for devices on 22H2, and there are three ways in, of which the first is free: syncing your PC Settings, redeeming 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, or a one-time purchase of $30 USD. It covers security updates only, with no feature improvements and no technical support.
When does Windows 10 Extended Security Updates end?
12 October 2027. This is worth stating plainly because the date most widely published is 13 October 2026, and that is now out of date. Microsoft's own consumer ESU page states the 2027 date and does not mention the 2026 one anywhere. If you read otherwise, check the date on the page you are reading, then check Microsoft's.
How long do Chromebooks get updates?
Google's policy is that ChromeOS devices receive 10 years of updates. The crucial detail is which ten years: 10 years from the platform release date rather than from the day you bought the machine. Two Chromebooks bought on the same afternoon can expire years apart, so the age of your laptop does not tell you the answer. Google publishes an Auto Update Expiration date for every model, which is why this is the one part of the tool that answers per device. Some models carry a condition: the longer window applies only if the device opts in to extended updates, and the checker says so where that applies rather than printing the date alone.
How long does Apple support a Mac?
Apple has never published a figure, for any Mac. What it publishes is which models can run the current macOS, currently macOS Tahoe 26, and that is a compatibility list rather than a support window. Falling off it does not mean security updates have stopped: Apple issues security updates for older macOS versions alongside the current one, so a Mac that cannot install the newest release can still be receiving patches. Anyone quoting you a confident end date for a Mac has inferred it from Apple's past behaviour, which is a reasonable thing to do and a different thing from a published commitment.
Where do these dates come from?
Manufacturer pages only. Google's Auto Update Expiration list for Chromebooks, Microsoft's Windows release-health and lifecycle tables for Windows versions, Microsoft's consumer ESU page for the Windows 10 extension, and Apple's compatibility list for the current macOS. Every date shown links to the page it was read from. Nothing here comes from a roundup, and where a maker publishes nothing the tool says so rather than filling the gap.