WIN11 build 28000 upgrade to 26300 - HOW? And IF?

My WIN1 system is build 28000.2704. If I want to upgrade it to 26300, of course it won't work. I would like to keep my settings, files and applications. Has anyone managed to do it or is it even possible at the moment and if so, how? Please help

28000.2704 is Windows 11 26H1 the only way that i know of to upgrade or move to Windows 11 26H2 is a complete clean install of Windows.

best of luck Steve ..

Windows upgrades only work when the next update is numbered higher than the current build. (26300 < 28000).

Therefore, no in-place upgrade is possible. You can wait it out until 27H1/2 arrives next year, or do a clean install of 26300.

garlin said:

Windows upgrades only work when the next update is numbered higher than the current build. (26300 < 28000).

Therefore, no in-place upgrade is possible. You can wait it out until 27H1/2 arrives next year, or do a clean install of 26300.

Click to expand...

At some point the two branches will 'merge' so maybe 27H2 will be both an upgrade to 26H2 and 26H1 ?

BrianInEngland said:

At some point the two branches will 'merge' so maybe 27H2 will be both an upgrade to 26H2 and 26H1 ?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure 28000.x is for ARM based machines and 26xxx.x is for AMD/Intel machines.

markw51 said:

I'm pretty sure 28000.x is for ARM based machines and 26xxx.x is for AMD/Intel machines.

Click to expand...

Arm is the real target, but there are builds of 26H1 for Intel and AMD.

It's an interesting question. For two years in a row, MS has highlighted ARM-based PC's in the first half of the year.

26200 was first officially released on ARM, in Spring 2025. Technically it was available on Insider builds for x64, but it didn't ship officially for x64 until Fall 2025. They didn't name 26100 GA (Spring) as "25H1", even though the later x64 debut was named "25H2".

28000 was officially released on ARM, in Spring 2026. Technically it was also available on Insider for x64. This time, MS did name it "26H1", and made it clear than 26300 was "26H2" and the two branches were split.

Given that history, who knows what's next? Will 26H1 -> 27H* be done in one jump (everyone merges at 27H2), or does it go 26H1->27H1 and then everyone merges at 27H2? You can make arguments for both update paths. But we're not MS, and it's their decision.

BrianInEngland said:

At some point the two branches will 'merge' so maybe 27H2 will be both an upgrade to 26H2 and 26H1 ?

Click to expand...

It's an interesting question. For two years in a row, MS has highlighted ARM-based PC's in the first half of the year.

26200 was first officially released on ARM, in Spring 2025. Technically it was available on Insider builds for x64, but it didn't ship officially for x64 until Fall 2025. They didn't name 26200 GA (Spring) as "25H1", even though the later x64 debut was named "25H2".

28000 was officially released on ARM, in Spring 2026. Technically it was also available on Insider for x64. This time, MS did name it "26H1", and made it clear than 26300 was "26H2" and the two branches were split.

Given that history, who knows what's next? Will 26H1 -> 27H* be done in one jump (everyone merges at 27H2), or does it go 26H1->27H1 and then everyone merges at 27H2? You can make arguments for both update paths. But we're not MS, and it's their decision.