Wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey Type cmd on start menu search, Right-click on command prompt select run as administrator. Using a simple command line you can find your Windows 10 product key. You can also link a Microsoft account to a Windows license by clicking “add a Microsoft Account” on the bottom of the same page and providing your login information. If you have a digital license, you should see “ Windows is activated with a digital license” or “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.”
Go to: Settings > Update & Security > Activation The Windows 10 Settings app has a page for displaying your activation information, including whether you have a digital license, though your key isn’t shown here: Free upgrade licenses are a digital entitlement. This can only be transferred to one other machine (not if you upgraded from an OEM key).
Those who upgraded to Windows 10 for free from Windows 7 and 8 don’t have a unique Windows 10 key.these can be transferred to another machine and that process should happen automatically for a digital license, though you can also “uninstall” a Windows key from a given PC. Retail keys are purchased directly from Microsoft, Amazon etc.Again, these should be auto-applied from your UEFI/BIOS when reinstalling Windows on a modern boxed PC, but you can also retrieve them manually. OEM keys are shipped with a specific computer and can’t be transferred to another machine.
There are many types of Windows licenses with varying terms of use. So, if you have a newer Windows PC or you already log in using your Microsoft account, you generally shouldn’t have to search for your original Windows 10 key. This means your Windows 10 license now linked Windows keys to Microsoft accounts, letting you activate a copy of the operating system simply by logging in with valid online credentials. But because your hardware can significantly change if you upgrade your hardware, this entitlement was expanded to become a “ Digital License” when Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607) arrived. For a long time, Windows PCs (OEMs) came with a product key sticker that was often placed outside of the machine or with your computer’s manuals, but now manufacturers are storing this license within the machine’s UEFI/BIOS and the information is automatically retrieved and applied when reinstalling the operating system.Īdditionally, Windows 10 introduced a “ Digital Entitlement” element to Microsoft’s license which links your Windows key to an ID generated based on your PC’s hardware.