If you need to reinstall Windows or upgrade your motherboard, our helpful guide will show you how to find or extract your Windows 10 product key.
For most people, Windows 10 was either a free upgrade or it came on your new PC or laptop. If you’re ever asked for a product key – during a clean install for example – here’s what to do in order to find it.
We'll show you how to extract your
key and the steps to take before upgrading your PC components.
How to find Windows 10 product key
If you upgraded from Windows 7 or 8, Windows 10 will have activated automatically after connecting to Microsoft’s servers online. You didn’t need to enter a product key as you were entitled to Windows 10 by virtue of having a genuine consumer copy of Windows 7 or 8.
However, there are a few instances where
you'll need your product key. If you've upgraded from Windows 7 or 8 and plan
to upgrade your PC components, thus wiping your hard drive, you'll need your
Windows 10 product key.
If you're installing a new system all
together, then you'll also need your Windows 10 product key.
Both the above scenarios involve a fresh
install of Windows, and despite Microsoft adding the Activation
Troubleshooter tool in the Anniversary Update (find it in Settings >
Update & Security > Activation), you might be stuck between a rock and a
hard place if you haven't already extracted your Windows 10 key.
No matter your objective, here's how to
extract your product key.
How can I extract my Windows 10 product
key?
If you bought a PC, laptop or tablet
running Windows 10 then it should have a sticker or Certificate of Authenticity
which contains the product key, or be included somewhere with the packaging or
documentation that came with it.
However, this isn't always the case. One
reader told us that, according to HP, it does not put product key on laptops or
PCs for security reasons. As with the digital entitlement (now called a Digital
Licence), the product key is stored "somewhere in the computer" and
will activate automatically if needed. This will work even if the hard drive
fails.
He said that the product key was
semi-visible on the System screen in Windows: most is redacted with only the
last 5 of the digits shown.
If you've purchased a boxed copy of
Windows 10, it will be on a label in the box. If you bought a digital copy of
Windows 10 online from Microsoft, you should have received the product key in
an email.
If however you've not got any of the above, you can always extract your Windows 10 product key using ProduKey, which is free software that displays your product key on various software installed on your machine.
Note: The program might be flagged by your anti-virus program, as it is a tool used to extract keys - some anti-viruses deem this as a virus or malware, but trust us - it's safe.
Write your Product Key on a piece of paper
and store it safely. If you ever need to re-install Windows 10 on another
machine or decide to wipe your hard drive, you can now install Windows 10
directly from a Win10 ISO.
Do I need a product key to clean install
Windows 10?
Since Microsoft has your computer’s
‘digital signature’ from the initial upgrade it recognises the combination of
components when you do a clean install and automatically activates Windows.
This means you can safely skip the screen which asks for a product key at the
start of the installation process.
It’s just frustrating that there’s no
message to tell you this: the screen is only for those installing a version of
Windows 10 they’ve purchased and which therefore still requires a key.
Windows 10 should activate as long as you
haven’t made any major changes to your PC. Upgrading from a hard disk to an SSD
won’t affect anything, nor will changing your graphics card. However, upgrading
your motherboard and processor will probably count as ‘significant’ and you’ll
have to ring Microsoft’s support line if you find that Windows is no longer
activated, or you’re reinstalling it.
How do I check if Windows 10 is activated?
Right-click on the Start button and choose System from
the menu that appears. Under Windows Activation, you should see “Windows is
activated”. Note: If you have the
Creators Update installed, you'll see a slightly different screen: click on
'About' at the bottom of the left-hand menu, then on the 'Change
product key or upgrade your edition of Windows' link.
Then you'll see the status:
Similarly, if you click on Settings on the
Start Menu, then Update and Security you will see the section called
Activation. If you're running a version prior to the Creators Update, it will
look like this:
