How To Find Your Windows 10 Product Key Using Cmd

Microsoft uses Windows product keys — sometimes chosen Windows activation keys — to protect their software against piracy, but this practice also inconveniences legitimate users who forget or lose their keys.

Note that recovering your Windows product fundamental isn't the same as recovering your Windows countersign. If you ever lose your product key, follow our recovery tips beneath to find your lost primal. So, write down your production key and put it somewhere safe to salvage yourself future headaches.

How to find your Windows product key using Command Prompt (CMD)

Type cmd in the Windows 10 search bar.
Right-click on Command Prompt, select Run as ambassador, and select Yes if Windows asks y'all to allow access.
Type or copy and paste the following control into the Control Prompt:

wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
Printing Enter. Your 25-character Windows 10 product key should at present exist displayed (in five-character sets).

That's how to find a windows 10 production key in cmd (Command Prompt). You tin can discover your Windows vii production key in Command Prompt by following the same steps. To open Control Prompt in Windows 7, press the Windows key + R and type cmd into the search box.

How to find your Windows Product key using PowerShell

Right-click on the Showtime Menu.
Select Windows PowerShell (Admin). Click Yes if Windows asks you to let access.
Type or copy and paste the following lawmaking into PowerShell:

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"
Press Enter. Your 25-grapheme Windows ten product key should at present be displayed (in 5-character chunks).

How to detect your Windows Product Key in the Registry Editor

Blazon regedit in the Windows x search bar. Click on the Registry Editor. Select Yes if Windows asks you to allow admission.
In the binder system that displays, navigate to:

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

Each particular betwixt backslashes above corresponds to the folders you need to click to find the folder with your Windows product primal: the SoftwareProtectionPlatform folder.

Your production key is listed next to the item named BackupProductKeyDefault.

That's how to detect your Windows 10 product fundamental using the Windows registry. The production fundamental here might be different from the product key institute through Command Prompt or PowerShell. That could exist because y'all've upgraded or inverse your version of Windows. Y'all can find a Windows 7 product key in the registry through the same method.

Check your Windows settings

You can as well cheque if yous have an active Windows license — and whether information technology'south a digital license — through the Windows ten settings.

Open up the Beginning Card and select Settings.
Click Updates & Security.
Select Activation.

Next to Activation, you'll run into data about your Windows 10 activation status, and whether yous have a digital license. You can besides change your Windows 10 production key on this screen if y'all need to.

Check the original packaging

With concrete copies of Windows, the Windows 10 or Windows 7 activation cardinal is often hidden backside a scratch-off inside the original box. It could also be on an official sticker located on the outside of the box.

When buying a PC or laptop with Windows 10 pre-installed, the Windows x product key is listed on a Document of Actuality in the paperwork, or a sticker somewhere on the device itself (usually the side or back of a PC, and the underside of a laptop). If y'all're wondering how to find your Windows 10 product key, it may be as unproblematic as finding it on your calculator.

Search your emails

If you purchased Windows through a retailer, searching in your email for terms such as "product central," "Windows confirmation," or "Microsoft activation" could bring upwards your product key details. If you think you purchased Windows through the Microsoft Store App, searching for "Microsoft Services Agreement" or the email address "msa@communication.microsoft.com" might help you detect an email correspondence with your Windows 10 or Windows 7 product primal.

If y'all use Gmail, you lot can search your inbox with specific parameters using Gmail's search operators. You lot can search by e-mail sender (from:[name]), recipient (to:[proper noun]), or even terms in the field of study line (subject:[microsoft activation cardinal]), for example.

Try a third-party tool

Production fundamental finders can locate keys for software that's already installed. Using one of the methods higher up to find your cardinal is safer, since giving a company access to your computer leaves you vulnerable to bloatware or fifty-fifty types of malware.

Only utilise 3rd-party tools you lot trust. If a third-political party tool infects your device, downloading the best complimentary antivirus software can remove it.

Some notable Windows production cardinal finders are MyKeyFinder and Belarc Advisor. These products have free trials but may crave additional information or send you ads. Third-party tools can also recover deleted files on Windows and other, more specialized services.

Digital license vs. product fundamental

If you lot bought a concrete disc or retail re-create of Windows 10, you have a product key located somewhere on or inside the original packaging. If you lot bought Windows 10 online directly from Microsoft, you accept a digital license.

If y'all buy or upgrade Windows ten directly from Microsoft, you don't need a Windows 10 production key. Microsoft creates a digital license automatically and stores it on their servers in a process called digital entitlement. A digital license serves the same purpose as a product key, except it's stored on the operating arrangement itself — y'all don't need to re-enter it if you reinstall or upgrade Windows.

Why practice yous need a Windows product key?

When you reinstall Windows or software such every bit Microsoft Role, y'all need your product primal. It'southward tough to locate files — such as documents storing your product keys — when you accept folders all over your desktop. Our guide to speeding up and cleaning your PC can help you lot tidy up your folders and keep your computer organized.

If you accept Windows viii and are thinking of an upgrade, bank check out our Windows 8 vs Windows 10 comparison. If yous want to upgrade Windows but aren't sure if your PC can handle information technology, check out our guide to checking your computer specs only to be safe.

Upgrading to a new version of Windows will give you a new product key. Anyone tin can download and install Windows 10 for gratuitous , but Microsoft will continue encouraging you to activate. You tin can't alter your desktop theme, colors, or startup programs without activating an official license, and y'all won't go all the almost of import Windows x features and updates either.

What about Windows 7?

Anyone running Windows seven should upgrade to Windows 10. Along with being faster and smoother, Windows 10 is meliorate at managing memory and disk space. If your hard drive is clogged or buggy, see how to use chkdsk in Windows to browse your bulldoze and ready it. It's possible that upgrading to Windows 10 can improve your hard drive'south wellness likewise. Upgrading to Windows 10 can fifty-fifty set the Windows black screen in some cases.

With Windows 10 y'all can integrate Microsoft'south OneDrive deject storage, and get increased security with Windows SmartScreen and Windows Defender.

If you lot're wondering how to notice a Windows vii product key, you lot can do so using Command Prompt or the Registry Editor, every bit shown to a higher place. If you ever want to upgrade to Windows ten or 11 from Windows seven, you'll need your Windows seven product key.

Improve your Windows feel, whatever version you have

No matter what version yous accept, Windows is the home of your digital life. Just all that shuffling, downloading, and browsing accept its toll and tin clog up your system quickly. AVG TuneUp can articulate out years of grime, make your browsing speedier and lighter, and proceed your favorite apps updated automatically. Savour an optimal Windows experience with AVG TuneUp.