Windows 11 Home vs Windows 11 Pro

Microsoft's edition comparison marks Device encryption, and automatic encryption on capable devices, on Home and on Pro. It marks BitLocker device encryption, Remote desktop, Group Policy, Azure Active Directory Join, Hybrid Azure Active Directory Join, and Support for Active Directory on Pro, and leaves those rows unmarked on Home.

Microsoft Learn lists a physical memory limit of 128 GB for Windows 11 Home and 2 TB for Windows 11 Pro, on X64 and on ARM64.

Microsoft Support says you can connect from a Home PC to another computer. The PC you connect to must run a Pro edition.

Microsoft Learn says the Hyper-V role can't be installed on Windows 11 Home, and that Windows Sandbox is not supported on Windows Home. Hyper-V is an optional feature. Windows Sandbox is turned on from Turn Windows features on or off.

Microsoft says Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro for personal use require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device setup.

Quick verdict by buyer

Gamer: choose Home when you do not need a Pro feature. Microsoft publishes one minimum hardware list for Windows 11, not a second list for Pro. Get Pro if you need BitLocker management, Remote Desktop hosting, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, Group Policy, domain or Microsoft Entra ID join, or more physical memory than the 128 GB Home limit. Also get Pro if Home and Pro cost the same from Microsoft or an authorized retailer.

Home user: Home includes the Device encryption row on Microsoft's comparison. Microsoft Support says Device Encryption enables BitLocker encryption and can turn on when you first sign in with a Microsoft account, or a work or school account, on a device that supports it. A local account does not turn Device Encryption on automatically.

Remote work or IT: Pro. Microsoft Support says the remote PC must run a Pro edition. The client can be Home. Microsoft's comparison marks Group Policy, Azure Active Directory Join, Hybrid Azure Active Directory Join, and Support for Active Directory on Pro. Microsoft Support says Pro includes the ability to join a domain or Microsoft Entra ID.

Developer running virtual machines: Pro. Microsoft Learn requires Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise for Hyper-V, and lists Windows Pro as an edition that supports Windows Sandbox. Home is excluded from both.

Feature differences

Microsoft's business comparison has columns for Home, Pro, and Pro for Workstations. Check marks below are the cells in that table.

Device encryption is marked for Home, Pro, and Pro for Workstations. The row says device encryption is available on a wide range of Windows devices. Automatic encryption on capable devices is also marked for all three columns.

BitLocker device encryption is marked for Pro and Pro for Workstations, and unmarked for Home. The row names BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. Microsoft's Windows 11 specifications also list BitLocker to Go as available in Windows Pro and above editions, and say it requires a USB flash drive.

Remote desktop is marked for Pro and Pro for Workstations, and unmarked for Home. Microsoft Support separates the two roles: the PC you connect to must run a Pro edition, and the PC you connect from can run Home or Pro.

Group Policy is marked for Pro and Pro for Workstations, and unmarked for Home. The row describes managing PCs, accounts, and groups when you pair Windows 11 Pro with Windows Server. Support for Active Directory is a separate row, also marked for Pro and not for Home. Its description covers domain join and Group Policy. Azure Active Directory Join and Hybrid Azure Active Directory Join are marked for Pro and not for Home.

Performance and gaming

Microsoft lists those minimum requirements once, for installing Windows 11 on a PC. It does not publish a higher processor, RAM, storage, or graphics floor for Pro. Microsoft says certain features need specific hardware, that some apps exceed the minimum, and that performance scales with a more capable PC.

Microsoft lists DirectStorage as a Windows 11 feature that needs an NVMe SSD, games that use the Standard NVM Express Controller driver, and a DirectX 12 GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support. That line is not split by Home or Pro.

Hyper-V and Windows Sandbox do not run until you turn them on. Microsoft does not give a frame-rate difference between Home and Pro.

Encryption

Microsoft Support says Device Encryption enables BitLocker encryption automatically for the operating system drive and fixed drives. When you first sign in or set up a device with a Microsoft account, or a work or school account, Device Encryption is turned on and a recovery key is attached to that account. If you use a local account, Device Encryption is not turned on automatically. If the setting does not appear, it is unavailable on that device or you are signed in with a standard user account. Microsoft Support names TPM, Windows Recovery Environment, and Secure Boot among the reasons it can be unavailable.

Microsoft Support says BitLocker Drive Encryption is available on Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education, and that Device Encryption is available on a wider range of devices, including those running Windows Home. Microsoft's comparison marks the BitLocker device encryption row on Pro and not on Home.

Remote Desktop

Microsoft Support says the PC you want to connect to must be running a Pro edition. On that PC you confirm the edition under Settings > System > About, then turn Remote Desktop on under Settings > System > Remote Desktop. The device you connect from can run any edition of Windows, including Home, or another operating system. From a Windows PC, Microsoft Support says to open Remote Desktop Connection, enter the PC name, and sign in.

A Home PC can be the client. It cannot be the remote PC.

Virtualization

Microsoft Learn says Hyper-V is built into Windows as an optional feature and that there is no Hyper-V download. The Windows requirements are Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise, a 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), CPU support for VM Monitor Mode Extension (VT-x on Intel CPUs), and a minimum of 4 GB of memory. Microsoft Learn also says the Hyper-V role can't be installed on Windows 11 Home. You turn it on from Turn Windows features on or off, or with Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature. Microsoft's specifications also list Client Hyper-V as available in Windows Pro and above editions, and say it requires a processor with SLAT.

Microsoft Learn says Windows Sandbox is not supported on Windows Home. Its edition table marks Windows Pro, Windows Enterprise, Windows Pro Education/SE, and Windows Education as Yes. Microsoft Learn tells you to open Turn Windows features on or off, select Windows Sandbox, and restart if you are prompted. You can also enable the optional feature Containers-DisposableClientVM. Prerequisites there include Arm64 (Windows 11, version 22H2 and later) or AMD64, virtualization enabled in BIOS, at least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended), at least 1 GB of free disk space (SSD recommended), and at least two CPU cores (four cores with hyper-threading recommended). Those prerequisites apply when you install Windows Sandbox. They are not a second minimum for every Pro PC.

Memory limits

Microsoft Learn's physical memory table for Windows 11 lists Windows 11 Home at 128 GB on X64 and 128 GB on ARM64. It lists Windows 11 Pro at 2 TB on X64 and 2 TB on ARM64. A gaming PC under 128 GB does not cross that Home limit.

Setup and a Microsoft account

Microsoft's specifications say Windows 11 Pro for personal use and Windows 11 Home require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account during initial device setup. The same section says that for all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and use some features. The personal-use account requirement is not limited to Home.

Upgrading later

Microsoft Support says you can upgrade Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro in the Microsoft Store. The Store path looks for an activated Home installation. For a manual upgrade, the steps apply only to a device already running an activated copy of Windows 11 Home. With a Pro product key, you open Settings > System > Activation, choose Change next to Change product key, and enter the 25-character key. Without a key, you expand Upgrade your edition of Windows and open the Microsoft Store. After the purchase, Microsoft Support says you are prompted to install Windows 11 Pro and restart.

Buy the license from Microsoft or an authorized retailer.

Other editions

Microsoft's business comparison includes a Pro for Workstations column. Microsoft Learn also names Windows 11 Enterprise and Windows 11 Education, with their own physical memory limits. This comparison stays on Home and Pro.

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