Download Windows 10 Version 1803 Using Direct Download Links

This guide is obsolete, Windows 10 Version 2004 is now available to download. A section to download all previous versions of Windows 10 is included in an updated Windows 10 guide. Better instructions are also included when it comes to making the Bootable USB.

Media Creation Tool vs Direct Download Links

Windows 10 Installation .isos can be obtained from Microsoft's website:

Link 1 yields direct Download Links to installation .isos and is designed primarily for use on computers (or phones) not running Windows e.g. Ubuntu, Android, iOS.

Link 2 on the other hand gives the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, which Microsoft have tailored to Download the Windows 10 Setup Files and in turn Create an Installation .iso on your computer.

If one visits Link 1 on a Windows OS it will redirect to Link 2 and if one visits Link 2 on a non-Windows OS it will automatically redirect to Link 1.

To use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool see Downloading Windows 10 Version 1803 Using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. The Windows 10 Media Creation Tool verifies the setup files before creating the installation .iso which reduces installation errors due to incomplete media, it then creates a .iso from these setup files. The installation .iso checksums which are dependent on time of creation are hence unique for every .iso. The .iso Microsoft place on their download server on the other hand, has it's own checksum and any users that use the direct download link should have a matching checksum (otherwise they have an incomplete/corrupt download). The .iso from the Media Creation Tool has slightly less Editions than the .iso obtained from the Direct Download Links albeit, the additional Editions are usually Editions designed for large corporations and generally not used by Home Users.

The Windows 10 English (UK) .iso obtained from the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool:

  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Home N
  • Windows 10 Home Single Language
  • Windows 10 Education
  • Windows 10 Education N
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 10 Pro N

The Windows 10 English (UK) .iso obtained from the Direct Download Link:

  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Home N
  • Windows 10 Home Single Language
  • Windows 10 Education
  • Windows 10 Education N
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Windows 10 Pro N
  • Windows 10 Pro Education
  • Windows 10 Pro Education N
  • Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
  • Windows 10 Pro for Workstations N

Obtaining Direct Download Links on Windows

This step is not required if you are running Linux Ubuntu, Android or iOS as the page showing the direct download links will already be displayed.

If running Windows, one will see the Media Creation Tool. They can simply change their browser settings to emulate a mobile experience and then refresh the page to get to the direct download link. After the direct download links show they can revert the browser settings to normal.

Google Chrome

This is easiest to do using Chrome. Press [F12] to open up the developer tools:

To the top left of the Developer Tools select Toggle Device, to switch it to a Mobile view.

You will see a slight change (but the Media Creation Tool is still offered):

Refresh the page:

Once refreshed you will see the Direct Link offered:

You can then Toggle the Device back to a PC:

The page should now look normal but have Direct Download Links opposed to the Media Creation Tool:

You can then close the Developer Tools:

Now you can view the page as normal, with Direct Download Links opposed to the Media Creation Tool:

Downloading the .iso

Scroll down to get to the Download:

You have essentially three options. The first is Edition which isn't really an option here:

You can only click on the one option however the .iso you download contains all the Editions:

Select confirm:

It will validate your request:

The next option is the Language. Note in this option "English" = English US and "English International" = English UK.

Select your Language:

I will select English (International):

After selecting your Language select Confirm:

It will validate your request again:

You will get 64 Bit and 32 Bit Download Links, which have a token in their suffix.

This token expires in 24 hours. After 24 hours you'll need to visit this website again to get a new Download Link which contains a new token at it's suffix.

Feedback for Microsoft: Show the Installation .iso Checksums below the Download buttons.

Installation .iso Checksums

Microsoft do not show the checksums on their website unfortunately. For the English UK and English US .isos the .iso checksums are as follows.

Win10_1803_EnglishInternational_x64:

  • 318836e71c148d7f4ab3183f998ade21
  • 2f8910ce2cfaf61f094dfd49fe87ac004a6200af
  • 2405493e366ca21b06f1ee89710b3b601029a1917e8f1ad985c065a923cfbb68

Win10_1803_EnglishInternational_x32:

  • 8edf94c78529126a0360660a8b6fb62a
  • e12e5d860b73e14424503372eee39895a55cad9a
  • d1f79c7eec20a0d4348203b5061d36131ec864b511606f0732bcae1a42b975c9

Win10_1803_English_x64:

  • 986e2e17cf6b0b49141cd15699768e6e
  • 08fbb24627fa768f869c09f44c5d6c1e53a57a6f
  • 2a7e8c918347f36c23dcbab9804aca5b88eaf8b118c7356b1d96ab771ecb017f

Win10_1803_English_x32:

  • 166d99b85390d58017dc0bef14e5f8eb
  • 3f2063b7419675e98c8df82bc0607bbb1ce298bb
  • 0ca124d06bd4664da3ce3b65a7582bb0a88c1b5a0263770397d987d5f3e66bc9

Checking the .iso Checksums on Windows

I will use a program called Rufus to check the installation .iso checksums. This program also allows you to make a Bootable USB. Rufus is downloadable here:

Downloading Rufus

Go to the Rufus website:

Scroll down to get to the Download Link:


Select Download:

Wait for the Download to finish:

Double click on Rufus-x.x.exe

Select Yes at the User Account Control Prompt:

Select Yes or No to search for Updates Online (you likely have downloaded the latest version so it's immaterial at this moment in time):

The new Rufus Version 3.x will launch. Version 3.x has a more streamlined user-interface and a layout which is much more logical in older editions.

At current I don't have a USB device connected so Devices are blank:

I'm going to load the installation .iso first. Select "Select" to load the installation .iso:

I will use a Windows 10 Version 1803 English UK (English International) installation .iso in this example:

Select your installation .iso and then press open:

Once the installation .iso is loaded you may look at the .iso checksums by pressing the tick button:

Rufus will scan the installation .iso and compute it's checksums:

Once you have them, you should check if they match. Unfortunately at the present time, Microsoft don't list all the installation .iso checksums on their website. For English language .isos they should match the one I list above. If you are using another language you will need to resort to a Google search. If you cannot find them on a Google Search, it likely means your Installation .iso is unique and this is because in most cases it is corrupt/an incomplete download.

Press ok:

You will be given the MD5, SHA1 and SHA256.

To Create the Bootable USB see the instructions here.

Checking the .iso Checksums on Ubuntu

In Ubuntu, we will check the MD5 of the Installation .iso using the Terminal. To the top left select Activities:

Then type in Terminal and select the Terminal:

Also open up Files to the left hand side:

Select Downloads:

You will see the .iso you just Downloaded:

Snap the Terminal to the left and Downloads to the right:

In the Terminal type in

cd Downloads

This will change the directory the terminal is looking at to Downloads:

Press [Enter] to execute the command:

now it's just a case of typing in

md5sum isofilename.iso

where isofilename is the name of your .iso. This will check the .iso md5sum:

If you have a long .iso filename, it may be better to copy and paste the filename into the terminal. Right click the .iso and then select Rename:

Then highlight the name including .iso:

Then copy the name:

Finally paste the name into the terminal:

Press [Enter] and the terminal will compute the .iso checksums:

The MD5 is shown in the terminal:

To Create a Bootable USB in Linux see here.

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