If you also want to know “Will I have to reinstall programs for Windows 11?”, you can read this article. It will guide you to upgrade Windows 10 to 11 without losing programs.
So I keep hearing that some people are facing problems with windows 11 if they updated directly from windows 10 especially for gaming, is that accurate ? Should I just update to windows 11 directly or will I have to reinstall programs for Windows 11? I’m just lazy and want to use it directly. Any ideas?
- Question from Reddit
As Windows 10 will end of support in 2025, more people plan to upgrade to Windows 11. Many wonder, “Will I have to reinstall all my programs?” The answer depends on how you upgrade. If you use the standard update method, your files and programs will stay in place—you won’t need to reinstall anything. However, if you perform a clean installation, everything on your system will be erased, including your apps. This guide introduces a tool that helps you upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 without losing your installed programs. We’ll also walk you through three easy ways to transfer your apps to a new computer if needed, making the process smooth and stress-free.
To upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 without losing your programs, AOMEI Partition Assistant is a reliable choice. Its Clone Disk feature lets you copy your entire system to a new drive, including installed programs, personal data, and all settings. This means you can move everything to Windows 11 without reinstalling apps, even if your old drive has bad sectors. Simply connect both drives to your computer and follow the easy steps to finish the process. The tool supports all major SSD brands like Samsung, SanDisk, Intel, Kingston, and Crucial. It also allows you to resize partitions while cloning, making the upgrade smoother.
If you are upgrading to Windows 11 without changing the disk, the APP Mover feature can help. It lets you move programs from one drive, like C, to another, like D, on the same PC. This is useful when you need to free up space without removing any apps.
For Windows Server users, AOMEI Partition Assistant also offers a Server edition to support system upgrades and data transfer.
The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".
Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".
Step 3. Select another drive as the destination disk, and then click "Next".
Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone" if there are bad sectors on your disk, and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.
Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of the SSD.
Step 6. You can preview the disk cloning operation by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed".
After cloning Windows disk to SSD or HDD, you need to change boot order in BIOS setup to boot computer from destination disk.
Step 1. Start the computer and press ESC, F1, F2, F8 or F10 during the initial startup screen. Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, a menu may appear.
Step 2. Choose to enter BIOS setup. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab. System devices appear in order of priority. To give the destination hard drive boot sequence priority over other disks, move it to the first position in the list.
Step 3. Save and exit the BIOS setup utility. The computer will restart with the changed settings.
Before upgrading to Windows 11, it’s important to check if your system uses the right disk partition style. Windows 11 requires UEFI boot mode and the GPT partition style. MBR and GPT are two types of partition styles. MBR is older and works with BIOS. It supports drives up to 2TB and allows only a few partitions. GPT is newer, works with UEFI, supports much larger drives, and has no limit on the number of partitions.
If your boot disk is still using MBR, you may need to convert it to GPT to meet Windows 11 requirements. Using Windows built-in tools for this will erase all data. To avoid data loss, it's better to use a safe and reliable tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant. Its MBR to GPT Converter lets you convert between MBR and GPT without data loss, deleting any files or partitions. You can also try the demo version to preview the process before making changes.
The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
After successfully converting system disk from MBR to GPT, you also need to change Legacy BIOS to UEFI.
“Will I have to reinstall programs for Windows 11?” Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 doesn’t have to mean reinstalling all your programs. If you use the standard upgrade method or a reliable tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can keep your apps and data safe. Whether you're cloning your disk, freeing up space, or converting MBR to GPT, this guide helps ensure a smooth and easy upgrade to Windows 11 without the hassle of starting from scratch.
