How To Find Windows 10 Product Key After Upgrade

For Windows 8 and 10, the product keys and OEM license model has changed. If you buy a Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 pre-installed computer, you will no longer see a sticker on the back or top of the machine with a product key printed on it. In the cases of Windows 8 and 10 OEMs, the original product key is embedded into the computer's BIOS.

If you bought your version of windows from a retail store, then the product key should be on a sticker inside or on top of your product cover. A Windows product key is a 25-character code that you can use to activate your copy of Windows. Since Windows 11 uses a digital license method for the activation, you don't need to manually enter the key each time you upgrade or clean install the Windows OS. As part of Windows 10's first November updatein 2015, Microsoft changed the Windows 10 installer disc to also accept Windows 7 or 8.1 keys. This allowed users to perform a clean install Windows 10 and enter a valid Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key during installation.

I have tested this scenario multiple times on hardware that originally shipped with Windows Home and was upgraded to Windows 10 Pro. When prompted, be sure to choose Windows 10 Pro as the edition to install. After you've successfully performed a Home-to-Pro upgrade, you can file that product key away. Your upgrade is now a digital license, attached to your unique hardware. If you perform a reinstallation of Windows, Microsoft's activation servers will recognize the hardware and activate Windows 10 automatically. Wanting to do a clean install of Windows 10 on your PC device?

In case you are required to enter the product key to activate your Windows 10 system again after the installation. Since Windows 10, Microsoft has changed the way Windows license works. Irrespective of how you got your license, once activated, the product key is tied to your system hardware. Whether you upgrade to the next version or clean install the OS, the licensing code component will automatically detect and verify the ownership. Clean installing a new version of Windows will need you to re-enter your product key in order to activate Windows. In this article, we will show you how to retrieve your product key from the old files of your previous Windows installation.

If you have a computer pre-installed with Windows 10, such as a Surface Laptop 4 or a Dell XPS 13, you are dealing with an "OEM" license. In this case, the product key is not transferable, and you are not allowed to use it to activate another device. With the launch of Windows 10, product keys have become less important because Microsoft launched digital licenses in 2016. Digital licenses allow for the simple installation of an operating system without requiring a bootable device.

The operating system can be activated via your Microsoft account. Even when you're reinstalling Windows 10, the system detects the license automatically. While Windows 11 comes as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, users still want to find the product key in case they lose activation after moving to Windows 11. So to make it easier for you, we have compiled this handy guide on how to find your Windows 11 product key in a jiffy. No matter if you have a digital license linked to your Microsoft account or an OEM license tied to your laptop, you can easily find the product key on Windows 11.

So without any delay, let's check out the different methods. One click and that wizard retrieved our digital license, despite not being linked to a Microsoft account. And again, this was for a retail key that was originally used on a desktop which was cloned as a Windows To Go drive and plugged into another machine with a different hardware profile. In other words, with luck, Microsoft's activation is forgiving enough and you should have no issues validating your OS license on a new machine or after several hardware changes. Since Microsoft has your computer's 'digital signature' from the initial upgrade it recognises the combination of components when you do a clean install and automatically activates Windows.

This means you can safely skip the screen which asks for a product key at the start of the installation process. When you upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, or to Windows 11 from Windows 10, a digital license activates the copy of Windows instead of a product key. These digital keys are linked to your Microsoft Account. So after reinstalling Windows, sign in with the same account. Many would argue that downloading Windows without paying for or already owning a product key is ethically wrong. That said, Microsoft has made this process easier over various Windows iterations and lessened the limitations and nagging that happens when you don't activate.

The company isn't trying to close this loophole, probably because it's more interested in driving user numbers. I've even seen well-known vendors and Microsoft partners do press presentations with watermarks on their desktop. Best of all, you only need to use the older product key one time. Now, even though the free upgrade offer is technically over, this method still functions in every version of Windows 10, from 2016'sAnniversary Update to the November 2019 Update.

It works when installing Windows 10 with installation media or by entering the key after installing Windows 10. You can file the product key away after you've completed a Windows 10 Home to Pro upgrade successfully. Your update has been converted to a digital license tied to your specific hardware. Microsoft's activation servers will detect your hardware and immediately activate Windows 10. The activation key for the version of Windows 10 is stored in the computer's UEFI firmware or BIOS.

When you install or reinstall the same edition of Windows 10 on a same computer, you do not need to enter the product key to activate it in a normal way. It will be activated automatically without entering product key after the installation. Looking for way to find your Windows 10 product key?

Need Windows 10 product key in order to reinstall or move it to a new computer? Here this post we go through steps to find windows 10 product key using command prompt. Also, discuss how to find windows 10 product key after upgrade. Depending on how you got your copy of Windows 10, you'll need either a 25-character product key or a digital license to activate it. A digital license is a method of activation in Windows 10 that doesn't require you to enter a product key. Without one of these, you won't be able to activate your device.

It is when you make major hardware changes, such as replacing the motherboard, you will require to reactivate the Windows with the product key. Follow the steps in the article and you should be able to retrieve your product key in no time. However, if you still cannot recover the key, try contacting Microsoft support for further assistance.

After upgrading your Windows 7 or Windows 8 installation to Windows 10, you might be wondering what product key you will use in case you want to do a clean install of Windows 10. We've already tried using the Windows 7 (or 8 if that's your case) key during a fresh install, and it didn't work. When you upgrade to Windows 10 from an older Windows version , you rely on the operating system's old product key to carry you through the upgrade. After that upgrade, that key is not upgraded itself so that it will work on Windows 10 clean installs.

What happens is that you're secretly assigned a new product key for your new operating system, and you need to find it before you initiate a clean Windows 10 install. You can therefore be able to retrieve your Windows product keys using the following methods. We will assume that you haven't deleted your Windows.old folder yet. If you have used a digital license method of activation in Windows 10, you don't require entering a product key at the time of installation. To find the product key depends on how you have got your copy of Windows. Getting hold of the Windows installer is as easy as visiting support.microsoft.com.

Whether you've paid for Windows 10 already or not, anyone is allowed to download a Windows 10 ISO file and burn it to a DVD or create installation media on a USB drive for free. Once that's done, you can boot from your installation media and load Windows 10 onto your PC. During installation, Microsoft asks for an activation key. You can skip it, but eventually, Windows will start alerting you that your install isn't activated. For digital license – You don't need to supply the product key to activate Windows 10 or Windows 11 on same PC, just link your Microsoft account to Windows 10 before upgrade. If you didn't enter a key during the installation process, you can enter a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 key right in this window when you're asked to provide a Windows 10 key.

Windows will check in with Microsoft's servers and give your PC a digital license for Windows 10. So these are the five ways you can use to find the Windows 11 product key on your PC. For me, running the command on the CMD window worked like a charm. If that didn't work for you, the third-party tool is an excellent alternative.

Not to mention, you still have the VBS script that displays your license key instantly. If you want to learn the difference between Windows 11 Home and Pro, go through our in-depth comparison. And to legally buy a Windows license key at a lower cost, head over to our linked article.

And if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below. Whether you installed and activated Windows yourself, or it came preinstalled, your product key is stored in the BIOS. This makes it really easy if you ever want to reinstall or upgrade Windows – there's no sticker on the machine that could get damaged, and no small label to lose. There are still situations where you'll run into product keys with Windows 10. If you buy a physical retail edition such as on a USB stick or DVD, you'll still get a product key.

We're double-checking this with Microsoft and will update this article should the company respond. Once the app launches, it will show you the current product key, installed version and edition of Windows. In order to register and activate your copy of Windows operating system you need your product key. Without activation, you will not be able to get remote Windows support services and updates despite your system working. A Windows product key is a 25 character key unique to your PC or your off the shelf windows product.

The product key is in the confirmation email you received after buying your digital copy of Windows. If you bought Windows 10, you'll receive a digital license instead of a product key. For more info, seeActivation in Windows 10or contactMicrosoft Support.

Microsoft allows absolutely anyone to download and install Windows 10 on their computers for free. Even if you don't have a product key, you'll still be able to use an unactivated version of Windows 10, although some features may be limited. In most cases, you can skip the on-screen prompt asking you to input a product key during the process of Windows installation. This is ok only if you don't make major changes to your computer.

For example, you can upgrade your laptop from HDD to SSDwithout changing your graphic card. Normally, your product key will be sent to you in an email accompanying your online purchase. In some cases, for added security, the online retailer will send you details to access a secure online storage locker to retrieve your product key.

If you do not receive your key when buying Windows 10 online from a authorised distributor, contact them immediately. If you have bought a new desktop or laptop which has Windows 10 pre-installed, the OS will already be activated. The product key will be included with the PC packaging , or with a laptop will be on a Certificate of Authenticity sticker stuck to the underside of the hardware.

If you have a Windows laptop, the license sticker is generally glued to the underside of the computer. Just turn back your laptop and look for a 25-character product key. Keep in mind, if you bought the laptop running Windows 10 or 7, the license key will still work without any issues on your upgraded Windows 11 PC. Now that you have your Windows 10 product key, you can clean install Windows 10 again on the same PC using the same product key. Infact, Windows will automatically activate your license after installation of Windows 10 on the same hardware.

Generally, if you bought a physical copy of Windows, the product key should be on a label or card inside the box that Windows came in. If Windows came preinstalled on your PC, the product key should appear on a sticker on your device. If you've lost or can't find the product key, contact the manufacturer. This digital license serves all the same purposes as the product key. Even better, it's built into the OS — this means that if you need to reinstall or upgrade Windows, you won't need to enter it. Windows 10 doesn't have concept of a Windows Product Key for activation and rather uses a generic Product Key that just signifies a particular Windows Edition like Home, Pro etc.

Windows 10 Versions also allows to activate Windows using original Product Key. Based on this article, I should be good to go as the product key is supposed to be stored on my machine now and I shouldn't need to type in the key for a clean install . That said, I can vouch from personal experience that a post-upgrade clean install of Windows 10 just works. Shortly after I installed Windows 10 on my laptop, I swapped out my old spinning hard drive for an SSD.

When I was done with the installation Windows activated right away. I say should, because even in this brave new world without product keys I find it hard to believe there won't be a few installation horror stories involving product activation. ProduKey lets you scan your system folder or a specific registry hive file to find your product keys. You can then choose to save the results as a text file. You can use this method to retrieve product keys from other hard drives too. I wonder if Microsoft changed Windows 10 so that this doesn't work properly.

I just activated a Dell laptop and used a manually entered product key. When running this script, the product key returned is NOT the one that was entered. If you bought the key from Microsoft Website, the Digital License Key is in the confirmation email sent to your account. When you buy from the Windows Store, you'll receive a digital license instead of a product key. Your Windows product key is an essential asset, and you have to use it when you want to perform a new Windows install or transfer your Windows 10 license to a new computer. Your Windows 10 product key depends on how you got your copy of Windows 10.

You will be asked to provide a 25-character product key or a digital license to activate Windows while you install it. Without one of these, you cannot activate your Windows for that device. However, if you upgrade your motherboard or processor, you will find Windows 10 inactivated. At this time, you need to find the Windows 10 product key before you reinstall it. So, you may wonder how to find my Windows 10 product key. The only problem is that sometimes, you may still encounter activation errors, which you may not resolve until you contact Microsoft support directly and explain the situation.