Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account Your Microsoft account is not linked to your digital license. Windows is activated with a digital license You'll see one of these activation status messages on the Activation page:įollow instructions in Linking your Microsoft account. Your activation status will be listed next to Activation.

In the resulting cmd.To check activation status in Windows 11, select the Start button, and then select Settings > System and then select Activation.

Type cmd in the run box dialogue you have summoned, and hit the enter key.

Press the Windows key and R keys simultaneously.

We will provide a short guide and link to these alternative processes in the FAQ at the bottom of this article. Alternatively, you can search for the Windows 10 product key in RegEdit – or download a freeware app, run it, and it will spit out your key. So what do you do if you have a PC with an activated copy of Windows 10 and want to find that product key? A solution for everyone that requires a bit of command prompt typing is quite quick and easy if you follow our walkthrough below. On the other hand, you might need your product key for some OS downgrade / upgrade projects you have planned. On one hand, this makes it easy to reinstall Windows from scratch – there is no need to hunt around for and type in a 25-digit alphanumeric product key as it is remembered by Microsoft’s activation servers.

Since that time, Microsoft has been activating Windows with a digital licence, tied to your system’s hardware fingerprint. Microsoft and its systems partners stopped providing stickers and certificates with Windows product keys printed upon them starting with the introduction of Windows 8.1. Our guide is specifically for users of Windows 10, but the method and commands might work with, or be similar on, other Windows versions. In this guide, we will show you how to unearth this key. Moreover, among all the Device IDs, Product IDs, and so on in the ‘About your PC’ section of the system control panel, there is no information about your Windows product key.

If you have bought a new laptop or desktop PC in the last few years, it won’t have come with a product key on a sticker or certificate of authenticity (COA).

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