Where Do I Find the Windows 10 Product Key

Have got you lost your Windows 10 ware key? You can find information technology listed in the OS itself with a little know-how and just a few simple commands.

For most users, particularly with Microsoft Windows 10, the go operating system you volition ever need, there has been atomic number 102 need for product keys because there has been no "new" version of Windows. With the pending release of Windows 11, withal, those happy days whitethorn be over, and users may find they need to know their Windows 10 product key after altogether.

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Your Windows 10 product key should be recorded on a sticker located along your figurer hardware somewhere—typically in the just about inaccessible spot possible. But before you whirl crawling behind your desk looking a 25-digit alphamerical code printed in fine print on the backside of your PC, there are to a lesser extent straining shipway to track down your Windows 10 product important.

This how-to tutorial shows you how to find your Windows 10 product key using the power of the operative system of rules itself.

How to find your Windows 10 product key

Earlier we begin, note that the winner of whatever of these methods is largely dependent on how your Microcomputer was activated. If you activated Windows 10 by upgrading from a valid Windows 7 or 8 installation Beaver State with the estimator's recent purchase, you are likely to discovery the product key fruit with most of these methods. However, if your PC was activated A part of an organization's licensing agreement, finding a mathematical product central may be more problematic.

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1. Command prompt

The most direct method for finding your Windows 10 product key is from the program line line. Type "cmd" into the Windows 10 background research box and so properly-click the command line result and select "run as administrator" from the linguistic context menu. Type this command at the remind:

wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Every bit you can see in Figure A, the command will display your current Windows 10 product key.

Figure A

2. PowerShell

If you are using Windows 10 PowerShell, the process is quasi. Right-cluck the Start Menu button and then select Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the context computer menu. Type this command at the prompt to reveal the product key American Samoa shown in Figure B.

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -interrogation 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"

Figure B

3. Registry File

As you mightiness imagine, the merchandise key is stored in the Windows 10 Registry File, so IT is mathematical to find the encipher on that point if you know the right key. Type "regedit" into the Windows 10 desktop search and select the appropriate item in the results. Navigate to this key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform

As you can see in Figure C, the BackupProductKeyDefault key will unwrap a unexpired Windows 10 cartesian product key.

Public figure C

Note: In my shell, the Windows 10 product key displayed by both the command prompt and PowerShell methods are the same. In the registry example, however, the product keys is different. The unexceeded explanation I dismiss suggest is that because I upgraded from Location to Pro on the example PC, the product key displayed is for the upgrade to Pro (or contrariwise). If you have a better solution, please let us know in the discussion.

Thither are third-party vendors offering applications that can locate and display your Windows 10 product Florida key as well, but they in essence do the same thing we did here without involving someone else's computer programing and possible security issues. Also, keep in thinker that if you bought Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store, your account order history would have mathematical product key information easy.

Also see

How to change the registered license owner in Windows 10 (TechRepublic)
Windows evolves: Windows 11, and the future day of Windows 10 (TechRepublic)
How to activate Microsoft Defender Application Guard in Windows 10 (TechRepublic)
Windows 10 PowerToys: A tare sheet (TechRepublic)
How to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Pro for atrip (ZDNet)
Checklist: Securing Windows 10 systems (TechRepublic Premium)
Everything you need to know about the Microsoft Exchange Server hack (ZDNet)
Moldiness-read coverage: Windows 10 (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Where Do I Find the Windows 10 Product Key

Source: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/3-simple-ways-to-find-your-windows-10-product-key/

Where Do I Find the Windows 10 Product Key