How to Upgrade Windows 10 from 32 bit to 64 bit

[Windows Central Question]

I have a 2 year old PC with Windows 10 Home and an AMD 6300 Six-Core processor that I want to upgrade to 64-bit. System information confirms the processor and lists the following under System type: 32-bit Operating system, X64-based processor. This would seem to indicate I can "upgrade" to 64 bit. However, under System information is lists the processor and "X86 based PC" under system. This would indicate I cannot "upgrade" to 64 bit/ So my question is - Can I "upgrade" this machine to 64 bit and if so, how? Is it as simple as purchasing a 64-bit version of Windows 10 pro and installing that? Thank you!

 

[beman39]

if your system CPU is X64 than all you have to do is install 64 bit Windows, I think what it's telling you is that you have a x64 bit system, but you installed a x32 bit version of windows... but caveat is you will have to re-format your computer and install x64 windows, you cannot upgrade from 32 to 64 bit...

 

[Grant Taylor3]

You need to do a fresh install when going to a 64-bit version from a 32-bit version.