Windows 11 now has one billion users. Microsoft achieved the milestone during the recent holiday quarter, meaning Windows 11 has managed to reach one billion users faster than Windows 10 almost six years ago.
“Windows reached a huge milestone, 1 billion Windows 11 users,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the company’s fiscal Q2, 2026 earnings call. “An increase of more than 45 percent year-over-year.” The Windows 11 growth last quarter will likely be related to Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 10, which also helped boost Microsoft’s Windows OEM revenue.
Microsoft must have had a large number of Windows 11 users throughout December, as Windows chief Pavan Davuluri revealed at Microsoft Ignite on November 19 that “about a billion people” were running Windows 11.
Interestingly, Windows 11 managed to reach one billion users in 1,576 days, which is less than the 1,706 days it took Windows 10 to reach the same milestone. Microsoft had planned to have Windows 10 running on one billion devices within three years of its release, but the deadline was extended following the cancellation of Windows Phone.
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