Windows 11 Pro vs Home: six additions, and one on Microsoft’s chart

Encryption: Home already has it, Pro adds the controls

Home is not unencrypted. Microsoft describes Device Encryption as a Windows feature that turns on BitLocker encryption automatically for the operating system drive and fixed drives, and says it is available on a wider range of devices than BitLocker Drive Encryption, including those running Windows Home. BitLocker Drive Encryption itself is available on the Pro, Enterprise and Education editions.

The account matters more than the edition. Device Encryption switches itself on, with a recovery key attached to the account, when you first sign in with a Microsoft account or a work or school account. Microsoft adds: “If you’re using a local account, Device Encryption isn’t turned on automatically.” In that case an administrator turns it on in Settings, Privacy & security, Device encryption.

If that setting is missing, Microsoft’s check is System Information, run as administrator, and the value of Device Encryption Support. It names the reason: a TPM that is not usable, a recovery environment that is not configured, or Secure Boot switched off.

What Pro adds is control. CNET points to encrypting external drives as well, and choosing what is encrypted and how; PCMag notes that Pro’s BitLocker lets an administrator encrypt a PC remotely. Where the recovery key ends up is on our page about the BitLocker recovery key.

Remote Desktop: only the PC you connect to needs Pro

Microsoft’s rule runs in one direction. The PC you connect to “must be running Windows Pro edition of Windows”; the device you connect from can run Home, Pro or a different operating system altogether. CNET’s example: with one desktop and two laptops that reach it, only the desktop needs Pro.

Microsoft’s steps on the PC you will connect to:

1. Open Settings, System, About, and check that Edition, under Windows specifications, shows Windows 11 Pro.
2. Go to Settings, System, Remote Desktop, turn on Remote Desktop and select Confirm.
3. Note the name under PC name.
4. On the other device, open Remote Desktop Connection on Windows, Windows App on a Mac or an iPhone, or the Remote Desktop app on Android, enter that PC name and sign in.

On Home the missing half is the host, not the client. CNET’s way round it is a third-party remote desktop tool, for which the Windows edition does not matter.

Hyper-V and Windows Sandbox

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s own way of creating and running virtual machines, and its installation guide is plain: “The Hyper-V role can’t be installed on Windows 10 Home or Windows 11 Home.” It lists Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise and a 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).

Windows Sandbox is the one most likely to matter on a home PC. Microsoft describes it as a disposable virtual machine: each launch is a fresh copy of Windows, and closing it deletes all software, files and state. Among the uses Microsoft lists are opening an untrusted email attachment and trying new software for the first time. And: “Windows Sandbox is currently not supported on Windows Home edition.”

On Pro it still has requirements of its own: virtualization switched on in the BIOS, at least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended), at least 1 GB of free disk space and at least two CPU cores. It is switched on in Turn Windows features on or off; if it is not in that list, Microsoft says the computer does not meet the requirements. Since Windows 11 version 24H2, built-in Store apps such as Calculator, Photos and Notepad are not available inside it.

The business features, and the memory limit

The rest of Pro is for PCs that an organization manages. Microsoft’s upgrade page names the ability to join a domain or Microsoft Entra ID. PCMag’s list, taken from the Microsoft Store documentation, adds a private catalog of company apps in the Microsoft Store, and CNET adds Group Policy and mobile device management. On a PC that no organization manages, CNET’s view is that these features are wasted.

Microsoft’s table of physical memory limits gives Windows 11 Home 128 GB and Windows 11 Pro 2 TB, on both x64 and Arm64 PCs. CNET calls going past 128 GB the rarest of the reasons to choose Pro.

Price, and moving from Home to Pro

On 22 October 2026 the US Microsoft Store listed Windows 11 Home (Download) at $139.00 and Windows 11 Pro (Download) at $199.99. Both pages say the copy is for PCs that need a new license for Windows and meet the minimum system requirements.

The articles in the search results carry their own numbers. PCMag, updated in January 2026, gives $139.99 for Home, $199.99 for Pro and a list price of $99.99 for the Home-to-Pro upgrade; CNET rounds to $140 and $200. We did not read the upgrade price ourselves: Microsoft’s route to it starts inside an activated copy of Windows 11 Home, which we did not have.

Coming from Windows 10 is a different case. PCMag and CNET both note that a PC that meets the requirements moves to Windows 11 for free, and CNET adds that it keeps its edition: Windows 10 Home becomes Windows 11 Home, and Windows 10 Pro becomes Windows 11 Pro. That route is on our page about upgrading to Windows 11.

Microsoft’s steps for the upgrade apply only to an activated copy of Windows 11 Home:

1. Open Settings, System, Activation. The edition and the activation state are shown at the top.
2. With a Pro product key: next to Change product key, select Change and enter the 25-character key.
3. Without one: expand Upgrade your edition of Windows, select Open Store, and buy Pro signed in with your Microsoft account.
4. After the purchase, Windows prompts you to install Windows 11 Pro and restart.

If Upgrade your edition of Windows is not there, Microsoft says the PC may already be on Pro, or the edition upgrade may not be available.

Which one you have, and which one you need

The edition is in Settings, System, About, under Windows specifications. Pro earns its price if you need one of these:

• to reach this PC with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop from another device;
• full BitLocker, for example on external drives, beyond the automatic Device Encryption;
• Hyper-V virtual machines or Windows Sandbox;
• to join a work domain or Microsoft Entra ID;
• more than 128 GB of memory.

If none of them applies, PCMag’s conclusion is that “Windows 11 Home is best for most people”, and CNET’s verdict is that Home “does everything most of us need”. The list above comes from Microsoft’s documentation; the two conclusions are the publications’ own.