Windows 10 ISO images are available for download for everyone. Microsoft makes the ISO files available so that the users can download and clean install/upgrade Windows without any issues. Microsoft provides multiple ways to download and install the latest version of Windows. We will discuss some of the ways in detail in this article.
The Windows 10 setup comes in the form of an ISO file. An ISO is a single file containing all Windows 10 installation media. The ISO file can be burned on a USB drive or a DVD drive to make the drive bootable. You can also extract the contents of the ISO file and install Windows from extracted files. But this limits your ability to clean install the Operating System. You will only be able to install the OS without formatting the primary C drive.
There are two types of ISO files. One is the normal Windows 10 ISO file which contains all consumer-level editions of Windows including Home, Pro, etc. The second type of ISO is the enterprise version of Windows. You can choose the Windows 10 ISO download according to your requirements.
Microsoft Windows 10 Download
Now let’s discuss Windows download methods.
Windows 10 direct download links
Windows 10 Version 20H2 64-bit English (5.7 GiB, 74,479 hits)
Windows 10 Version 20H2 32-bit English (4.2 GiB, 23,491 hits)
Windows 10 Version 2004
Download Windows 10 Version 2004 64-bit.ISO (English) (4.9 GiB, 434,929 hits)
Download Windows 10 Version 2004 32-bit.ISO (English) (3.5 GiB, 49,645 hits)
Windows 10 Version 1909
Windows 10 Version 1909 64-bit English (5.0 GiB, 435,412 hits)
Windows 10 Version 1909 32-bit English (3.5 GiB, 25,702 hits)
Download Windows 10 using Update Assistant
If you are already using Windows on your system, this is the easiest method to upgrade to the latest version right now. The update assistant does not download the ISO file for you, it will upgrade your Operating System to the latest version automatically. You need to have an active internet connection until the update assistant completes the process.
Follow the steps given below to upgrade your Operating System.
- Download Windows Update Assistant from here [6 MB]
- Run the executable and click on the Update Now button.
- The assistant will check the compatibility of the latest Windows version with your hardware. This should be fine if you are using a modern PC.
- Click the Next button to start the download. It will take some time for the download to complete and then installation will start automatically.
The system may ask you to restart to proceed with the installation.
Download Windows 10 using the Windows Media Creation Tool
If you want to do a new installation of Windows 10 then you can download the Windows 10 Windows Media Creation tool. This will automatically download Windows and create a bootable media like USB or DVD for you. The media creation tool acts as a Windows 10 download tool plus a bootable USB builder. You can perform a clean install as well as upgrade your current installation.
Follow the steps below:
- Download the Windows 10 Media Creation tool from here.
Windows 10 Version 1809 Media Creation Tool - Accept the License Agreement.
Windows 10 Media Creation Tool license agreement - Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC. The first option for Upgrade PCs will now do the same thing as Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant.
- Select Language, Edition and Architecture from the next screen.
Select Language Architecture and edition Windows 10 Setup - Select the installation media or if you haven’t plugged in the USB flash drive or DVD, you may download the bootable ISO file.
Choose media Windows 10 setup
Download Windows 10 ISO directly from Microsoft without Media Creation Tool
You can easily access any version of Windows 10 from this Microsoft download link. The problem with this link is that if you open the link on a Windows 10 PC, it will automatically detect and force the user to download the media creation tool first. The media creation tool can download the ISO but it is not a very pleasant experience. If you want to use a download manager, then you will need the direct download links.
Here, we will discuss how to download Windows 10 ISO directly without Media Creation Tool. This method is useful especially when you want to download the ISO in any other language of choice other than English.
The supported languages include the following:
- English (United States)
- English (United Kingdom)
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Portuguese (Brazilian)
- German
- French
- French (Canada)
- Russian
- Japanese
- Italian
- Dutch
- Spanish
- Spanish (Latin America)
- Polish
- Turkish
- Swedish
- Czech
- Arabic
- Korean
- Chinese (Traditional)
- Finnish
- Thai
Let’s first understand the logic. Microsoft’s media creation tool is only for Windows. If you open the same page using another device like Android, macOS, etc., Microsoft will give you the download links. We can trick Microsoft into thinking that we are not using Windows. This can be done if we are using Google Chrome, Firefox or even Safari. We will only discuss how to do this in Chrome and Firefox only.
For Chrome, follow the instructions below:
- Open Microsoft Windows 10 download webpage on Google Chrome.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + i to open the Inspect panel
Open inspection panel in Chrome - Press the three vertical dots icon in the top right corner of the inspect window.
- Go to More Tools –> Network Conditions.
Open network conditions - Under User Agent, uncheck select automatically.
- The above steps will enable a drop-down list just below the checkbox. Select anything other than Windows. For example, I chose Chrome OS.
Select user agent in Chrome - Without closing the inspect panel, hit the reload button or press F5. This will re-open the same Windows 10 download page but with a drop-down menu to select the edition of Windows ISO you want to download.
Select the Windows edition to download - Select the edition of Windows 10 to download (normally the top one which is the latest) and press the Confirm button.
- Next, you will need to select the product language. Choose which language you want to download the ISO in and click the Confirm button.
Select the product language - You will be provided with two buttons on the next screen.
64-bit Download
32-bit Download
Click on the appropriate link and the download will start immediately.
Windows 10 download links
Please note that these download links will only be valid for 24-hours only. So you need to complete the download process before the expiration time.
If you are using Firefox, you can use the user agent switcher addon to change the user agent.
Product key and installation
You may use the following product keys for Windows 10 installation and activation:
Windows 10 Product Activation Keys All Editions
You may burn the downloaded ISO file to a DVD or make a bootable USB drive in order to install Windows 10. If you want to upgrade Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 to Windows 10, then you should mount the ISO file and run the setup from within Windows Desktop.
Here are some basic questions from users which I’m addressing here. If you have any questions regarding Windows 10 download, you can leave a comment below.
Can the downloaded ISO file be used for recovery purposes?
Yes, the ISO can be used for troubleshooting and recovery.
How long will it take to install Windows 10?
It depends upon the system hardware. Normally, it takes between 15 to 30 minutes for the installation process to be completed.
How long does it take to download Windows 10 ISO?
It depends upon the Internet connection bandwidth. Since all our mentioned links are from Microsoft servers, it should not take long if you have a good Internet connection.
How much space should the USB/DVD drive have to make a bootable image?
At least 8GB of storage device is required to make a bootable Windows 10 media.
I hope you enjoy the latest version of Windows 10 as much as I do. Feedback from you will be highly appreciated. Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think.