Learn how to Discover Home windows 10 Product Key in 3 Methods

Editor’s Word: Microsoft now not sells Home windows 10, and its assist will finish on Oct. 14, 2025. Nonetheless, you may nonetheless purchase Home windows 10 from some third-party retailers.

Discovering your Home windows 10 product key can really feel like a treasure hunt. It’s usually tucked away on a hard-to-reach sticker in your computer {hardware} or hidden within the packaging of a bodily copy — assuming you haven’t already tossed the field.

Nonetheless, earlier than you go crawling right into a closet or behind your desk searching for a 25-digit alphanumeric code in high quality print on the bottom of your PC, there are much less strenuous methods to trace down your Home windows 10 product key.

This tutorial exhibits you learn how to discover your Home windows 10 product key utilizing the facility of the working system. We now have additionally revealed tips about how to find your product key in Windows 11.

Learn how to discover your Home windows 10 product key

The success of any of those strategies largely is determined by how your PC was activated. If you happen to activated Home windows 10 by upgrading from a sound Home windows 7 or 8 set up or with the pc’s current buy, you’ll probably discover the product key with most of those strategies. Nonetheless, in case your PC was activated as a part of a company’s licensing settlement, discovering a product key could also be extra problematic.

1. Command immediate

Essentially the most direct methodology for locating your Home windows 10 product secret’s from the command line.

1. Kind cmd into the Home windows 10 desktop search field.
2. Then, right-click the command line end result.
3. Choose run as administrator from the context menu.
4. Kind this command on the immediate:

wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey

As proven within the picture under, the command will show your present Home windows 10 product key.

2. PowerShell

If you’re utilizing Windows 10 PowerShell, the method is comparable:

1. Proper-click the Begin Menu button.
2. Choose Home windows PowerShell (Admin) from the context menu.
3. Kind this command on the immediate to disclose the product key.

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'choose * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"

3. Registry File

The product secret’s saved within the Home windows 10 Registry File, so it’s doable to seek out the code there if you recognize the appropriate key. To take action:

1. Kind regedit into the Home windows 10 desktop search, and choose the suitable merchandise within the outcomes.
2. Navigate to this key:

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionSoftwareProtectionPlatform

As you may see under, the BackupProductKeyDefault key will reveal a sound Home windows 10 product key.

Word: In my case, the Home windows 10 product key displayed by each the command immediate and PowerShell strategies are the identical; within the registry instance, the product secret’s totally different. The very best rationalization I can recommend is that as a result of I upgraded from Home to Professional on the instance PC, the product key displayed is for the improve to Professional or vice versa. When you’ve got a greater resolution, please let us know.

SEE: Windows 10 and 11 in S Mode: What Is It, and Should You Use It?

Different methods to seek out your Home windows 10 product key

Third-party distributors provide functions that may additionally find and show your Home windows 10 product key. These functions basically do the identical factor we did right here, however they introduce another person’s programming and potential security points.

As well as, when you purchased Home windows 10 from the Microsoft Retailer, the product key info is on the market in your account order historical past.

Is the Home windows 10 product key tied to my {hardware}?

If you happen to bought a device with an OEM key, akin to a Dell or Lenovo laptop computer, the Home windows 10 product key could also be tied to your {hardware}. Nonetheless, when you purchased a digital copy of Home windows, you may switch the license to a different laptop.

What ought to I do if I lose my product key after buying Home windows 10?

In keeping with Microsoft, if not one of the strategies listed right here work, you might be able to contact your machine’s producer to seek out the product key. Nonetheless, this may probably solely be doable in case your machine remains to be below guarantee. You could have to buy a brand new retail license if all else fails.

Can I switch my Home windows 10 license to a different laptop?

Sure. Simply word that Home windows 10 licenses are supposed to be used on one laptop at a time.