Windows 11 SE for Education Will Go Out of Support in October 2026

Microsoft quietly announced that Windows 11 SE, a lightweight version of the OS for education customers, will become unsupported in October 2026 (via Windows Central). There will be no more software updates and security fixes after that date, and the OS also won’t be receiving a “25H2” feature update later this fall.

If you forgot about the existence of Windows 11 SE, you’re probably not alone. The OS was originally announced during a special education event back in November 2021, and Windows 11 SE launched alongside a new ecosystem of Education PCs from Microsoft’s hardware partners starting at $249. Microsoft also followed up with its own Surface Laptop SE in January 2022.

Microsoft introduced the OS as an optimized version of Windows 11 for education customers, with support for desktop Office applications, OneDrive, and Intune for Education cloud management. The company also said at the time that the OS was developed during the pandemic to “address the most fundamental challenges that schools will face in the blended learning world.”

To be clear, Windows 11 SE tried to compete with Chrome OS and the cheap Chromebooks that are especially popular in the US education market. Windows 11 SE was designed to optimize resources on low-cost devices, and it can only run a list of “essential education apps” curated by Microsoft. School districts can still request other apps to be added to the Intune for Education portal, however.

While Windows 11 SE devices will continue to work after October 2026, Microsoft recommends that customers transition to new Windows 11 devices to continue receiving software updates and technical assistance.