4 Ways To Find Windows 10 Product Key

If you have just upgraded to Windows 10 from an older Windows Operating System or are planning on performing a clean installation, you may want to know whether your operating system is licensed and activated, and if so, which license key has been used.

The same Windows key can be used to activate Windows 10 after upgrading your Windows installation. If you have upgraded to Windows 10 from an older version or are performing a clean install and want to use the same old product key, this article is for you.

In this article, we will discuss the different methods for finding your Windows 10 product key. This article answers some of the most important questions regarding the use of the Windows 10 product key.

How to find Windows Product Key After Upgrading

Note: Although you may be able to upgrade to Windows 10 using your pirated version of older Windows, it will not help in reinstalling Windows 10 legally using the same product key.

Note: Two methods discussed in this post (Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell) give different product keys than the other 2 methods. Our theory is that the 2 command-line methods give generic product keys, which cannot be used to reinstall Windows 10.

Using Command Prompt

Perform the steps below to find your Windows product key using the Command prompt:

1. Open the Command Prompt by typing in cmd in Run.
   
2. Now paste the following command:
   wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
   

You will now see your 25-character alpha-numeric product key.

Using Windows PowerShell

Perform the steps below to find your Windows product key using PowerShell:

1. Open Windows Powershell by typing in powershell in Run.
   
2. Now paste the following cmdlet into PowerShell:
   powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"
   

You will now see your Windows product key.

Using Windows Registry

Windows stores the product key in the Registry, which it uses when required. You can determine your product key by performing the following steps:

1. Open the Registry Editor by typing in regedit in Run.
   
2. Now paste the following into the address bar at the top for quick navigation:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform
   
3. Now double-click “BackupProductKeyDefault” from the right pane.
   

You will now see the product key under Value Data.

Using Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder is a small utility that is used to find the currently installed Windows product key. The premium version of Keyfinder can be used to extract the details including product keys, licenses etc. of more than a thousand popular programs. We will use the free version of Keyfinder to find the Windows 10 product key after the upgrade.

Download Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder

Simply run the program after downloading and it will show you the licensing information of your Windows OS including the edition of Windows installed, part no., Product ID, CD Key, Computer name, registered owner, organization, etc.

You may also use ProduKey utility to find your Windows 10 product key.

Windows 10 Upgrade Limitations

Now that you have your product key, download Windows 10 ISO file and burn it onto the USB drive. You can clean install Windows 10 again on the same PC using the same product key. Windows will automatically activate your license after the installation of Windows 10 on the same hardware.

If you plan on upgrading your operating system to Windows 10, it will be limited to the same hardware. Since the Windows license binds itself to the computer BIOS, if you have made significant changes to your hardware, you will need to contact Microsoft Support for Windows activation.

Note: Changing your hard drive or RAM modules does not count as a significant change to your system’s hardware.

About Windows 10 Product Key

Windows 10 product keys used to come mounted to the backside of your PC, or underneath them. However, due to privacy, these were then later stored inside BIOS/UEFI. With this, the operating system then automatically detected the product key when it was upgraded from one version to the next.

There are different types of product keys:

• OEM Keys: There are they keys in the computers that come pre-installed with Windows. Such PCs have product keys embeded in them, and are on-transferable.
• Retails Keys: Such product keys can be purchased from Microsoft and other retailers, and are transferable from one device to another.
• Upgraded: Upgraded product keys are considered those which have been upgraded from one OS version to the next. These are also refered to as digital entitlements, which means that the machine is entitled to a legal OS update as it already has a valid license key.

Can I Use The Same Win10 Product Key If I Change My PC?

Unfortunately, no. You can’t move your Windows 10 license to another PC. Normally, OEM licensed products that usually come pre-installed on your PC are restricted to be used on that particular hardware only. If you have purchased a retail license for Windows 10, you can port between different PCs, but only one running PC is allowed per license.

The Windows 10 upgrade acts as an OEM license and is only available for that particular PC on which it is installed for the first time.

If you have any other questions regarding the use of Windows 10 product key and license, please comment below.