How To Find Windows 10 Product Key – Guide

For most users, especially with Microsoft Windows 10, the last operating system you’ll ever need doesn’t require product keys because there wasn’t a “new” version of Windows. However, with the upcoming release of Windows 11, those happy days may be over and users may find they need their Windows 10 product key. Your Windows 10 product key should be found on a sticker on your computer hardware - usually in the most inaccessible place possible. But before you look behind your desk for a 25-digit alphanumeric code printed in small print on the back of your PC, there are less arduous ways to track down your Windows 10 product key. There are several methods for finding your Windows 10 product key if you don’t have it handy: -Print out or save a copy of your original purchase receipt or activation email -Check online for support resources from Microsoft or third-party software providers -Contact customer service for help ..

In this article, you will learn how to find your Windows 10 product key using the operating system itself. Before we get started, you should note that the success of these methods largely depends on how your PC has been activated. If you activated Windows 10 by upgrading from a valid installation of Windows 7 or 8 or by purchasing your computer recently, you will likely find your product key using most of these methods. However, if your PC was activated as part of a corporate license agreement, finding a product key can be more problematic.

How to find Windows 10 product key

Retrieve product key in CMD

In the Windows search box, type cmd, right-click the result and choose Run as administrator. If you are unable to launch Command Prompt as an administrator, check out our guide in how to fix it.

In the cmd window, type wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey and press Enter. ..

Your Windows product key will be displayed on the screen. It is in the form of XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

Retrieve Product Key in PowerShell

In the Windows PowerShell (Admin) window, type the following command: Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object -Property Caption The result should look like this: Windows 10 Home 64-bit. ..

In the PowerShell window, type: powershell “Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’” and press Enter. ..

Your Windows product key will be shortly available.

Via Registry Editor

Start and search for regedit.

Right-click Registry Editor and click “Run as administrator”.

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile You will see a file named “userinit.exe”. Right-click on it and select “Properties”. In the Properties window, you will see a field named “Command Line”. In the text box that appears, type “regsvr32 userinit.exe” and press Enter. Now you will be able to start or restart your computer by typing “start userinit” or “reboot userinit” into the Command Prompt window. ..

After navigating to the given path, select “SoftwareProtectionPlatform” and check the registry keys in the right pane.

The “BackupProductKeyDefault” registry key is important because it stores the product key for the backup software. To check its value, double click on it and copy the data. This 25 digit string is the product key.

Final note

Windows 10 is a new operating system released by Microsoft. It is the successor to Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. To find your product key, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Start menu and type “windows update” (without the quotes).
  2. Click on the “Windows Update” icon that appears in the search results.
  3. On the left side of the window that opens, click on “View installed updates.”
  4. On the right side of the window that opens, under “OS Builds,” click on “10240.”
  5. Under “Product Key,” type in your product key and press Enter or click on it to select it.
  6. Click on “OK” to close the window and restart your computer if prompted to do so. ..