Windows 11’s growth may have slammed into a wall — and some users appear to be retreating back to Windows 10

Windows 11 passed Windows 10 in global desktop market share. Now, the newer operating system is on pace to lose its top spot to its predecessor.

Whether it gets that bad for Windows 11's market share is yet to be seen, since the OS has only dropped two months in a row. But those drops have been significant.

According to Statcounter, Windows 11 held a 55.18% market share in October 2025. That share dropped to 53.7% in November and dropped again in December. Now, Windows 11 holds a 50.73% market share.

That's a dip of more than 5 percentage points in just two months. Even leaving room for a margin of error and the fact that these are not official numbers from Microsoft, that's a big deal.

In that same time, Windows 10's market share went from 41.71% in October to 42.7% in November and then 44.68% in December. Even after the increase, Windows 10 has a smaller market share now than it did midway through last year.

Perhaps most surprising is a noticeable rise in the market share of Windows 7, which increased from 2.52% in October to 3.83% in December.

Why is Windows 11 losing market share?

Statcounter does not provide a reason for the drop in Windows 11 market share or offer a theory on the matter. It simply provides data. But it's difficult to ignore the timing of Windows 11's dip.

Windows 11 steadily gained market share over time, eventually eclipsing Windows 10 in June 2025. That feat actually took longer than expected.

Microsoft had aggressively pushed people toward Windows 11 and increased efforts further during the lead up to the end of Windows 10 support. In addition to showing full-screen prompts telling people to upgrade, Microsoft made a tool for migrating from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Windows 10 reached its end of support on October 14, 2025, meaning PCs on the older operating system stopped receiving support or updates unless people had paid for extended support.

I don't think Windows 10's end of support is the direct reason Windows 11 has lost market share since October. Instead, I think the cutoff placed a magnifying glass on Windows 11, and many people didn't like what they saw.

"Windows is Ruining New Laptops"

Windows 11 is in a weird space in 2026. As our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino pointed out, Windows 11 is a strong operating system in many ways. It's still used by hundreds of millions of people and provides program accessibility and stability to a large number of users. Rubino argued that "Windows doesn’t have a feature problem. It has a trust problem."

Windows 11 has also had an awful start to 2026 that's included a Patch Tuesday fiasco that has several parts (1, 2, 3). Problems include people being unable to run basic apps or shut down their PCs without rolling back to previous versions of Windows 11.

Microsoft confirming that it will provide the FBI access to BitLocker encryption keys when requested also erodes trust.

Windows 11 also had a disastrous 2025 in terms of public perception. A growing number of ads built into the operating system and the ever-increasing push to use AI have caused frustration.

I recommend reading Rubino's piece in full. Here's a snippet to give you a taste of his insight:

"People don’t hate change. They hate surprise. They hate feeling like they’re not part of the conversation. They hate waking up after Patch Tuesday and discovering that something they relied on has moved, changed, or been replaced without warning, e.g., Start menu changes. And they especially hate the creeping sense that the OS they paid for is slowly becoming a billboard for Microsoft’s services."

"Microslop" trending on social media is not a good look for one of the world's most influential tech companies.

Windows is Ruining New Laptops. - YouTube

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Complaints about Windows 11 are expanding across platforms. What started in Windows forums, Reddit posts, and X has made its way to the channels of influencers and reviewers.

Dave Lee (known on YouTube as Dave2D), shared a video titled "Windows is Ruining New Laptops" recently. Again, I suggest going through it in full. The gist is that Windows hardware is in a good spot, but Windows 11 is not.

That sentiment was also shared by our Cale Hunt earlier this year, who said, "PC hardware has never been better. Too bad Windows can't keep up."

With the plethora of issues, bugs, and trust issues relating to Windows 11, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons Windows 11 market share has dipped over the past few months. There's a good chance that it's a death by a thousand cuts situation.

Regardless of the exact reasoning, it's a bad look for Microsoft to have its flagship OS lose ground to an operating system that is out of support.