Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 and 8 keys can no longer activate any Windows 11 edition or version, not just Canary builds, as reported in September. However, Windows 10 keys are still valid.

The Windows activation loophole has now been closed by Microsoft, so you’ll have to buy a legit Windows 11 key. The Windows activation loophole has now been closed by Microsoft, so you’ll have to buy ...

Bad news for those planning to activate Windows 11 with a Windows 7 or 8/8.1 key: users noticed that the latest Windows 11 preview builds no longer allow activation with old license keys. In December ...

Microsoft closed a Windows 7 / 8 key loophole last month, and now people are experiencing issues reactivating some Windows 10 / 11 installs. Microsoft closed a Windows 7 / 8 key loophole last month, ...

At least for now, though, it seems like this change will only apply to future Windows versions. We were able to activate a fresh Windows 11 Pro 22H2 install with a Windows 8 Pro product key as of this ...