Microsoft publishes the Windows 11 system requirements

Microsoft has announced the minimum system requirements for Windows 11 needed to properly install the operating system and get access to early preview builds.

The new hardware requirements are more demanding than Windows 10 but should still be compatible with most recent computers.

The Windows 11 hardware requirements are listed below:

Processor:	1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM:	4 gigabyte (GB)
Storage:	64 GB or larger storage device Note: See below under “More information on storage space to keep Windows 11 up-to-date” for more details.
System firmware:	UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM:	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card:	Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
Display:	High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel
Internet connection and Microsoft accounts:	Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is required for some features.

The noticeable changes in the new system requirements are that Windows 11 now requires at least two or more CPU cores, 4 gigabytes of RAM, and 64 GB of free storage space, which is a bit higher than Windows 10.

However, it is doubtful that Windows 11 will run well on these minimum requirements, and users are suggested to have at least 8 GB of RAM and a 512GB hard drive.

Microsoft has released a ‘PC Health Check app’ that can be used to check if your device meets the minimum hardware requiements for Windows 11.

Unfortunately, the app does not tell you what system requiements you failed to meet.

Hardware requirements for specific features

Microsoft also announced different hardware requirements to use specific features in Windows 11, which are listed below:

• 5G support requires 5G capable modem.
• Auto HDR requires an HDR monitor.
• Bit Locker to Go requires a USB flash drive (available in Windows Pro and above editions).
• Client Hyper-V requires a processor with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities (available in Windows Pro and above editions).
• Cortana requires a microphone and speaker and is currently available on Windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States.
• DirectStorage requires 1 TB or greater NVMe SSD to store and run games that uses the “Standard NVM Express Controller” driver and a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU.
• DirectX 12 Ultimate is available with supported games and graphics chips.
• Presence requires sensor that can detect human distance from device or intent to interact with device.
• Intelligent Video Conferencing requires video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output).
• Multiple Voice Assistant (MVA) requires a microphone and speaker.
• Snap three-column layouts require a screen that is 1920 effective pixels or greater in width.
• Mute/Unmute from Taskbar requires video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output). App must be compatible with feature to enable global mute/unmute.
• Spatial Sound requires supporting hardware and software.
• Teams requires video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output).
• Touch requires a screen or monitor that supports multi-touch.
• Two-factor Authentication requires use of PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• Voice Typing requires a PC with a microphone.
• Wake on Voice requires Modern Standby power model and microphone.
• Wi-Fi 6E requires new WLAN IHV hardware and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E capable AP/router.
• Windows Hello requires a camera configured for near infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or portable Microsoft compatible security key.
• Windows Projection requires a display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
• Xbox (app) requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions. See Xbox Live Countries and Regions for the most up-to-date information on availability. Some features in the Xbox app will require an active Xbox Game Pass subscription. Learn more about the pass.

Microsoft states that there may be additional requirements as time goes on and features are improved.