Every licensed copy of Windows 10 has a unique product key and if you ever need to reinstall Windows, you will potentially need to find the Windows 10 product key to get things back up and running again.
However, many users have no idea where the key is stored. If you are one of them, then don’t miss this article.
For a long time windows PCs use to come with stickers on them which contained the Windows product key.
A Windows product key is a 25-character code used to activate Windows.
Then PC manufacturers started to embed the product key directly in the PCs UEFI/BIOS and Windows 10 will automatically apply this product key when Windows 10 is installed.
Also Read: Buy Windows 10 product key for the cheapest price
Recently Microsoft have again changed the way they deliver Windows 10 product keys by making them digital. Below we will go through all the possible ways you can find your Windows 10 product key quickly.
How to find Windows 10 product key on a new computer
The product key for new computers that come preinstalled with Windows 10 has the product key stored within the motherboard firmware.
Users can retrieve it by issuing a command from the command prompt.
#1 – How to find Windows 10 product key using the command prompt
The steps are mentioned below to display Windows 10 product key stored on your PC through command prompt.
Step 1: Type cmd in the Windows search bar.
Step 2: Run Command Prompt as administrator, if prompted, enter your Windows account password.
Step 3: Once open, copy and paste the following command and then hit the Enter key:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
The 25-digit product key will then appear.
#2 – How to find Windows 10 product key using PowerShell
Similarly, you can get Windows 10 product key with PowerShell. Here are the steps which you need to follow:
Step 1: Press + X.
Step 2: Click Windows PowerShell (Admin).
Step 3: Type following command and hit Enter.
powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"
The 25-digit product key will then appear.
âť—Caution
This method displays the Windows product key stored in your computer’s BIOS or UEFI firmware. In other words, it shows the original Windows key your computer came with.
If you have installed Windows with a different key since then (or acquired a digital license), it will be different from the current key in use on your PC.
Both of these commands attempt to read your Windows product key from something called the OA3 BIOS marker.
In other words, they may only work if Windows came preinstalled, and not if you built the machine yourself and installed/activated Windows.
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