Editor’s Notice: Microsoft not sells Home windows 10, and its help will finish on Oct. 14, 2025. Nonetheless, you possibly can 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 pc {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 positive 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 easy methods to discover your Home windows 10 product key utilizing the ability of the working system. We’ve additionally revealed tips about easy methods to discover your product key in Home windows 11.

Tips on how to discover your Home windows 10 product key

The success of any of those strategies largely depends upon how your PC was activated. In case you activated Home windows 10 by upgrading from a legitimate Home windows 7 or 8 set up or with the pc’s latest buy, you’ll doubtless discover the product key with most of those strategies. Nonetheless, in case your PC was activated as a part of a corporation’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 beneath, the command will show your present Home windows 10 product key.

Displaying the Home windows 10 product key with the command immediate.

2. PowerShell

In case you are utilizing Home windows 10 PowerShell, the method is analogous:

  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"

Displaying the Home windows 10 product key with PowerShell.

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 realize the correct 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 possibly can see beneath, the BackupProductKeyDefault key will reveal a legitimate Home windows 10 product key.

Displaying the Home windows 10 product key with the Registry Editor

Notice: 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 perfect clarification I can counsel is that as a result of I upgraded from Dwelling to Professional on the instance PC, the product key displayed is for the improve to Professional or vice versa. When you have a greater answer, please tell us.

SEE: Home windows 10 and 11 in S Mode: What Is It, and Ought to You Use It?

Different methods to seek out your Home windows 10 product key

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

As well as, for those who purchased Home windows 10 from the Microsoft Retailer, the product key data is offered in your account order historical past.

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

In case you bought a tool with an OEM key, corresponding to a Dell or Lenovo laptop computer, the Home windows 10 product key could also be tied to your {hardware}. Nonetheless, for those who purchased a digital copy of Home windows, you possibly can switch the license to a different pc.

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

In response to 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, it will doubtless solely be doable in case your machine continues to be underneath guarantee. It’s possible you’ll must buy a brand new retail license if all else fails.

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

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