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In July, the amount of Windows 11 users finally overtook those on the legacy Windows 10 for the first time. Now, data has been revealed for August, and while the some users appear to have switched back to Windows 10, the most recent software still retains a larger market share.
According to data from third-party tool Statcounter , spotted by Neowin , Windows 11's market share dropped by over four percentage points month-over-month. In August, it was 49.08% of the market of Windows devices compared to 53.51% back in July.
It appears some users have switched back to Windows 10 as usage of the older software jumped from 42.88% in July to 45.53% in August. The remaining 11% is made up of legacy software such as those still running Windows 7, 8, and even XP.
This data isn't directly from Microsoft, so it's worth taking these results with a pinch of salt. Microsoft doesn't reveal its own usage data, unlike Apple, so Statcounter's results are usually the best tool to tell Windows usage.
One explanation for this change in direction may be users sticking with Windows 10 to make the most of a recent policy change. Microsoft announced in June that it would continue to provide security updates to Windows 10 past its previous cutoff date of October 14, 2025, if you meet certain criteria.
For example, those who want to stay on Windows 10 for an extra year can pay $30 per PC, or you can use your Microsoft Reward points to gain longer access. If you don't want to spend on this, you can also opt in to use Windows Backup and get free access until October 2026.
It may be that these changes motivated fewer people to switch to Windows 11 ahead of the deadline, and it may have also seen some people revert their software to the older version to keep using Windows 10 for as long as possible. In early October, we'll likely see Statcounter provide data for September, which will give us a better idea of whether this trend is set to continue.
