What happens if you never activate Windows 10?

Microsoft allows anyone to download Windows 10 for free and install it without a product key it'll keep working with only a few small cosmetic restrictions first you'll notice a watermark in the bottom right corner of your screen this watermark appears and disappears randomly you'll also see a Windows isn't activated activate Windows now link at the bottom of the Settings app you will get you need to activate windows before you can personalise your PC message on all pages under the personalization category when it comes to functionality you will be able to personalize the desktop background window title bar taskbar and start color change the theme customize start taskbar and lock screen all options are there they are just great out and inaccessible aside from these basic limitations your Windows 10 system will continue to work forever there are no nag prompts aside from the watermark you'll get all the system updates and everything else is completely functional you'll still receive all windows updates on non activated Windows 10 and everything else is completely functional the only thing that could change this as a Windows 10 update but Microsoft has become increasingly lenient since Windows 7 you can use Microsoft Store on unactivated Windows 10 the Microsoft Store is a digital storefront for Windows users it offers all sorts of digital content for download in one place some free and some paid you can think of it as a similar offering to Google Play for Android users in Apple's App Store the Microsoft Store is included with Windows 10 by default simply open the Start menu and search for store to find the Microsoft Store app if you don't use a Microsoft account to sign into Windows 10 you can still browse and install free apps but you'll need to sign in to download paid content you can use Microsoft Office on inactivated Windows 10 inactivated Windows 10 makes no difference assuming that what you buy is an actual valid office suite it will work you can use Microsoft onedrive on unactivated Windows 10 it is available for free to all the owners of a Microsoft account you can play games on unactivated Windows 10 you can run all games normally and get full system performance without any limitations there's no link of Windows activation and game performance of your system while playing games you'll notice a watermark in the bottom right corner of your screen this watermark appears and disappears randomly you can download software run any programs get Windows updates surf the internet and more with unactivated Windows 10 it all works but there will be a watermark on the right side of the screen stating activate windows that is it you can always buy a Windows 10 home or Windows 10 professional key depending on what you have and activate it anytime you want the biggest issue with an unlicensed copy of Windows 10 probably is not being able to personalize Windows 10 all other features will work just like on a licensed copy of Windows 10 so being not able to personalize and that nagging watermark are the main issues when using Windows 10 without activation Microsoft has actually opened up Windows 10 the fact that you can download the ISO and install it without a product key on any PC or Mac is neat the idea here of course is to get the OS into as many hands as possible this tactic is not much different than Google and Android and giving it away for free Microsoft wants Windows 10 on every computer because it is the store and their services that are important this strategy means that Windows 10 can be put everywhere with a tiny drawback sure you have a watermark and you cannot change the wallpaper but there is literally nothing stopping you it just works in my opinion they want as many people using Windows in Windows 10 in particular as possible and that way they can monetize their windows installations in other ways such as Microsoft Office onedrive or Microsoft Store so you can see that Windows 10 works even without activation but we will never recommend it while it may get updates presently Microsoft can anytime decide to either block or delay them in that case it will not be safe to use it I strongly recommend you activate your copy of Windows 10 right away by buying a legit genuine copy of Windows 10 either from Microsoft store online or from a retail shop

Channel: giraysdad

Views: 56,857

Keywords: windows 10 without activation, windows 10, windows 10 free, microsoft windows 10, unactivated windows 10

Id: fYLf_zDm_YI

Length: 4min 38sec (278 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 10 2020