How to find Windows 10 product key

You have decided to reinstall Windows 10 on your computer. Before doing this, however, you would like to recover the product key of your copy of the operating system, so that you can activate it again without problems. However, if you are here now and you are reading these lines, it is evidently because you do not have the faintest idea of ​​how to succeed in your intentions and, therefore, you would like to have a hand on what to do.

How do you say? Things are exactly like this and would you like to know if I can help you? Of course yes, there would be more! If you dedicate a few minutes of your free time to me, I can in fact explain to you, in a simple but not incomplete way, how to find the windows 10 product key.

So sit comfortably, take some free time just for yourself and start immediately to concentrate on reading what is reported below. Together, we're going to discover all the ways available to recover the serial number of the most recent OS distributed by the Redmond company. I can assure you that, contrary to appearances and what you might think, this is a rather simple operation to perform. Are you ready? Yes? Great! Ban the chatter and let's proceed!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to Find Windows 10 Product Key from Prompt
• How to find Windows 10 Product Key from PowerShell
• How to find the Windows 10 product key from the registry
• Other ways to find the Windows 10 product key
• Programs to find the Windows 10 product key
  • NirSoft ProduKey
  • Lazesoft Windows Key Finder
  • SterJo Key Finder

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the subject, then going to find out how to find the windows 10 product key, it seems only right to explain to you what we are talking about, precisely. In case you weren't aware, the Product Key is an alphanumeric code consisting of 25 characters allowing activate Windows and which serves to determine theauthenticity copy of your operating system.

The Windows Product Key is formed like this: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. It is requested during the operating system installation phase but, possibly, it is possible to decide to enter it later.

The way in which the Product Key is communicated to the user varies according to the modality of purchase of Windows 10, that is to say if the system is pre-installed on the computer in use or if the copy in question was purchased at a later time. In the first case, it is found on a label attached to the computer, otherwise it can be communicated electronically or be present in the physical packaging of the operating system: I'll tell you more about it in a dedicated chapter of this tutorial.

How to Find Windows 10 Product Key from Prompt

Having made the due clarifications above, let's move on to action. The first way to find the Windows 10 product key that I invite you to try is to go and act from the command line, using the Command Prompt. How you do it? I'll explain it to you immediately.

To begin with, launch Command Prompt with administrative privileges by clicking on the Start button (I cheer with the windows flag) which is located at the bottom left of the taskbartyping "Cmd" in the search field that appears, right-clicking on the result that appears, selecting the entry Run as administrator from the menu that appears and clicking on the button Yes in the window that appears on the screen.

In the Command Prompt that you now see, enter the string you find below, followed by pressing the key Submit on the PC keyboard.

wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Then wait a few moments and you will finally be able to know the activation key of your copy of Windows 10, immediately under the previously typed string.

How to find Windows 10 Product Key from PowerShell

You can also find the Product Key of the copy of Windows 10 installed on your computer from PowerShell, the "enhanced" version of the Prompt present "as standard" in Windows 10. How? Continue reading to find out, it's child's play!

First, launch PowerShell with administrative privileges by clicking on the Start button (I cheer with the windows flag) which is located at the bottom left of the taskbartyping "Powershell" in the search field that appears, right-clicking on the result that appears, selecting the entry Run as administrator from the menu that appears and clicking on the button Yes in the window that appears on the screen.

In the PowerShell screen that is now shown to you on the desktop, type the string you find below and then press the key Submit on the computer keyboard.

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService'). OA3xOriginalProductKey"

Then, wait a few moments and you will be able to know the product key of your Windows 10: you will find it immediately below the typed string.

How to find the Windows 10 product key from the registry

You can also find your Windows 10 product key from system log, but only fit cipher. For the purposes of this tutorial, therefore, this isn't particularly useful, but for completeness of information it is my duty to tell you how to proceed in this case too.

First, invoke the Registry Editor by clicking on the Start button (I cheer with the windows flag) located at the bottom left of the taskbar by typing regedit in the search field that appears and clicking on the relevant suggestion. Then press the button Yes in the window that you see appearing on the screen.

Now that you see the Registry Editor window on your desktop, go to the following path, selecting the related items you find in the tree structure on the left: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > Current Version.

You will find the serial number of your copy of Windows 10 in correspondence with the entry DigitalProductId, but as I already told you, this will be in encrypted form.

Other ways to find the Windows 10 product key

In alternative As I have already described to you in the previous lines, you can be able to find the Windows Product Key in the following ways, which differ depending on how you bought your computer or your copy of the operating system.

• If you bought a new PC with Windows 10, you will find the Product Key on the computer sales package or on a special certificate included inside, which takes the name of Certificate of Authenticity. Also in this case, you can also find the Product Key on a special label stuck directly on the computer case (if it is a desktop PC) or on the body, generally on the lower part (if it is a laptop).
• If you purchased a copy of Windows 10 from an authorized reseller, you can find the Product Key on a card or label inside the OS purchase package.
• If you purchased a digital copy of Windows 10 from an authorized reseller, find the operating system serial in the confirmation email you received after purchasing Windows 10 or in a digital binder, accessible through the reseller's website.
• If you bought a digital copy of Windows 10 from a Microsoft website, the Product Key is included in the confirmation email received after purchasing the digital copy of the operating system.
• If you upgraded for free from Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.x to Windows 10, you have a digital license directly associated with your computer, rather than a product key.
• If you purchased a different version of Windows 10 from the OS App Store, you have a digital license, rather than a product key, and you can use that for activation.

For further details, you can refer to the appropriate information web page that you find on the Microsoft website.

Programs to find the Windows 10 product key

By putting into practice the indications I have given you in the previous lines, have you not been able to trace the Product Key of your copy of Windows 10 and would you like to know if there is any other solution suitable for the purpose? The answer is yes.

In fact, to obtain the information you need, you can also rely on one of the specialists programs which you will find listed below.

NirSoft ProduKey

The first software to find the Windows 10 product key that I recommend you try is ProduKey, developed by NirSoft. It is one of the most famous in its category. It allows you to recover the serial number of Windows and also that of the products of the Office family in a very simple way (however, it does not allow you to view the desired information if you use Microsoft Volume Licensing). It's free and requires no installation to work.

To use it, connected to its website, scroll to the bottom of the web page displayed and select the link Download ProduKey (In Zip file). Also download the Italian translation for the program interface by clicking on the link Italian that you find in the appropriate table.

Once the download is complete, extract both ZIP archives obtained in a folder of your choice, then start the file ProduKey.exeto start the program. Now that you see the software window on your desktop locate, in the column Product name, the wording Windows 10: in the relevant column Product key you will find the Product Key listed.

If you want, you can also choose to save the data obtained in the form of a text file: to do this, select the serial number using the key combination Ctrl + A and click on the floppy disk, which is located at the top left.

If instead of saving the Product Key you intend to copy it to the Windows clipboard, right-click on it and select the item Copia Product Key from the menu that is shown to you. Subsequently, you can paste the serial number where you deem most appropriate, using the key combination CTRL + V.

Lazesoft Windows Key Finder

Another great program you can rely on to recover the Windows 10 Product Key is Lazesoft Windows Key Finder, free, no-install and open source. It works in a practically similar way to the software I have already told you about in the previous lines: it allows you to find the serial number of all versions of Windows and Office.

To download it to your computer, go to the Lazesoft Windows Key Finder website and click the button Free Download Now, located in the center of the displayed web page.

Once the download is complete, launch the .exe file obtained and wait for the program window to be visible on the screen. You will then find the Product Key of your copy of Windows in the appropriate box on the left.

If you want, you can save the information obtained in the form of a text file, by clicking on the button Save. Alternatively, you can print the serial by pressing the button Print. Very easy, right?

SterJo Key Finder

If, for whatever reason, the programs I have already told you about have not had the desired effect and you therefore need an alternative solution, I suggest you try SterJo Key Finder: this is another free application that allows you to recover Windows and Microsoft Office serials, as well as those of various other software (such as Photoshop and AutoCAD) and video games. It requires no installation and is very easy to use.

To download it to your PC, go to the program's website and click on the button Portable, which you can find at the bottom of the page.

When the download is complete, extract theZIP archive obtained, start the .exe file contained within it and click on the button Yes in the window that is shown to you on the desktop.

Now that you're viewing the main SterJo Key Finder window, locate the column Product Name and the wording Windows 10 [edition name] > Key: in its correspondence, in the column Product Key, you will find the Product Key of your copy of the operating system.

If you want, you can export all the Product Keys that the program has identified in a text file: to do this, click on the icon floppy disk located at the top left of the program window.

If, on the other hand, you want to copy the selected serial to the Windows clipboard, click on the button with the two sheets and the arrow which you always find at the top, on the program toolbar.