Many people were shocked to find that some newer Windows devices aren’t eligible for the upgrade to Windows 11, even though they appear to meet the system requirements. What’s holding them back? One thing: TPM.
TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module. A TPM is a chip on your PC’s motherboard that provides extra security. The presence of TPM makes the chip tamper-resistant and stops malware from disabling the chip’s security. Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0.
According to Microsoft, most PCs manufactured since 2016 support TPM. When Windows 11 was announced, Microsoft offered up a tool to check if your PC was eligible. However, that tool ended up raising a lot of questions about what was going on when many PCs that seemed to meet the upgrade standards came up as not eligible for upgrades.
Microsoft said they are revising the tool to include a clearer explanation of why some PCs aren’t eligible.
Here’s a way to check if your PC has TPM. Press the Windows key +R to open the Run menu. Type in: tpm.msc and hit OK.
This window will open.
If TPM is enabled, you’ll see a positive status.
If not, you may see an error that says “Compatible TPM cannot be found.” That doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have TPM. You may need to enable it on your device. Contact your system’s manufacturer to learn how to turn it on in the BIOS.