Chrome will keep working on Windows 10, but not forever
I only have one device left running Windows 10. It’s an old tablet PC that I use primarily for media playback. It’s been a reliable little workhorse for years, but it’s not eligible for Windows 11, so it’s stuck where it is. I still use Chrome every day, and like many people who hold on to older hardware, I’ve started to wonder how long this will last.
Windows 10 officially no longer supports free updates, but it’s not completely gone and millions of people still use it. After a wave of criticism, Microsoft reversed course and offered a one-year extension through paid and free registration security updates. This extra time changes the outlook for apps like Google Chrome. Once these security updates stop completely, the risks of maintaining Windows 10 will quickly increase.
The problem is that Google hasn’t committed to a deadline, so users like me need to read the signals, look at what happened with older versions of Windows, and try to determine how long Chrome will remain safe and usable on a Windows 10 machine.
Google sends mixed signals on Chrome support for Windows 10
So what did Google actually say about Google Chrome and Windows 10? The short answer: almost nothing firm. On the official Chrome support forum, a post from July 2023 states that Chrome “will continue to receive security updates, bug fixes, and new features for as long as LTSC editions of Windows 10 are supported by Microsoft.” This suggests there is some engagement, but more importantly, this only refers to LTSC (long-term support) editions of Windows 10, not average consumer versions.
In 2025, more indirect clues have appeared. According to reports, Chrome recently began quietly checking whether a Windows 10 PC is eligible to upgrade to Windows 11. Google’s intention appears to be to collect anonymized data, perhaps so it can gauge how many machines are “stuck with Windows 10” before deciding how long Chrome should continue supporting them.
In short, there is no official statement from Google “this date is the end”. What we have are some weak signals and a note of continued support for some editions of Windows 10 and backend data collections in Chrome, but nothing concrete or public that promises long-term support for all Windows 10 users.
What Chrome’s Windows 7 Timeline Tells Us About Windows 10
When Chrome finally stopped supporting Windows 7, it gave users what I’d call a generous runway. Officially, the last version of Chrome to support Windows 7 was Chrome 109, released on January 10, 2023. This means that a machine running Windows 7 could still get updates and security patches almost three years after Microsoft’s support deadline for the operating system.
Even then, Google didn’t cut users short. The company linked the Chrome shutdown to a specific build number and initially issued several warnings. Before that, Chrome support for Windows 7 was supposed to end in mid-2021, but as businesses were slow to upgrade, Google extended it until January 15, 2023. This extra wiggle room shows that Google understood that many of its customers, both business and home, were still heavily reliant on older PCs.
Why Chrome is likely to pass the Windows 10 support deadline
Even though official support for Windows 10 ended in October 2025, there are several reasons to believe that Chrome could continue to quietly work on it for a long time to come. First of all, browsers don’t always cut off support as soon as an operating system reaches its end of life. As long as the underlying system still supports core APIs and Chrome developers don’t explicitly block older versions, the browser can continue to work, and Google hasn’t publicly said it plans to pull the plug any time soon.
In fact, recent reports suggest that Chrome is still collecting telemetry data on Windows 10 PCs to see which ones are eligible for an upgrade to Windows 11. This suggests that Google is evaluating how many users remain on Windows 10 and implies that the company may wait until that number drops significantly before ending support. Meanwhile, there is precedent for browsers remaining functional long after an operating system’s end of life, and no technical barriers yet prevent Chrome from running on Windows 10 builds. Given this, using Chrome on a Windows 10 tablet or PC remains plausible for the foreseeable future.
What you need to do before Chrome support ends
If you want to stay safe and want Chrome to work reliably on a Windows 10 device, your best bet is to upgrade to Windows 11 if your hardware allows it. If that’s not an option, consider signing up for Microsoft’s Extended Security Updates program, which offers security fixes for Windows 10 until October 2026. You should also keep Chrome fully up to date, remove outdated and insecure software, and follow basic security habits like avoiding suspicious downloads and links. Finally, back up your important files to an external drive or cloud service so you’re ready to move to a new device when Chrome support ends.
Ultimately, Chrome will likely continue to work on Windows 10 for longer than expected, but that doesn’t mean you should rely on it forever. Google hasn’t given a firm deadline, and Microsoft is already pushing the operating system toward long-term decline. If you’re still using a Windows 10 device, now is the time to plan your next step, whether that’s an upgrade, replacing old hardware, or simply backing up your data so you’re ready when support finally runs out.
