New laptops sold with Windows 10 pre- installed no longer include a Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) sticker containing the product key. The reason is, the product key alias serial number from Windows 10 has been embedded in the UEFI firmware.
How to View Product Keys on Windows 10
Unlike laptops bundled with Windows 7, which are still affixed with a sticker that says product key. Planting technology product key it makes you not be confused when trying meng- install the laptop.
Because, when the laptop is connected to the internet, Windows will automatically be activated after the product key in the UEFI confirms the database recorded by Microsoft.
However, you still need to know the Windows product key if another case occurs. For example, when you change a laptop hard disk to an SSD. Or, you want to move the product key to another laptop.
You will not be able to see the product key by accessing UEFI before the laptop boots. You don’t need to be confused because there are several easy ways.
However, you must first check whether the type of Windows 10 license that is installed can be transferred to another laptop or not.
Windows 10 License Type
Like previous generations of Windows, Windows 10 is sold in three different ways: retail, OEM, and volume licensing. All three have different characteristics such as the following.
Retail
You get this type of license when you buy Windows 10 at computer stores, be they online or physical stores. This license with another name Full Packaged Product (FPP) can be used again on the same laptop with different hard disks. Can also be transferred to another laptop.
OEM
OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacture. This type of license is the cool name of bundling aka pre-install Windows. Simply put, laptop manufacturing companies buy special licenses for their products. OEM license can only be reinstalled on the same laptop, cannot be transferred to another laptop.
Volume
Microsoft also sells Windows licenses in bulk to an agency. Usually, Windows has an Enterprise, Education, or Pro Education edition. This type of license can be transferred to another laptop. The thing to note is, this type of license can expire. If so, need to be reactivated.
How to Check Windows 10 License Type
You must now understand the different types of licenses in Windows 10. Now it’s time to check which category Windows 10 you have. Here are the brief steps through the Command Prompt.
1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type “CMD” in the search field.
3. When the Command Prompt logo appears, right-click and select Run as Administrator.
4. In the black Command Prompt window , type the command slmgr -dlv and then press enter.
5. Instantly the Windows Scrip Host window will appear.
6. You can see the Windows license type in the Description section .
How to View Windows 10 Product Key
There are various ways that you can do to see the Windows 10 product key. Either without additional applications or with additional applications. Here are a variety of methods you can try.
No Additional Application
This method can be used without the need for additional applications, so you don’t have to bother installing applications on a laptop. There are several ways, you can follow the steps below.
Check through the Activation Menu
If you bought a Windows 10 DVD at a store, of course, in the purchase box there is a sticker with the product key. However, the purchase box is missing, you can still see the product key from the activation menu. Here’s how to access it.
1. Press the Windows key
2. Type “Activation” in the search field.
3. When the Activation settings menu appears , click the menu.
4. Immediately you will appear a product key that is 25 digits in number.
Check via Command Prompt
How to see the product key via the Activation Menu obviously won’t work if you activate Windows 10 with a digital license. The digital license is the one found on pre-installed Windows laptops.
You can access the product key embedded in the laptop’s UEFI via Command Prompt, like this.
1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type “CMD”.
3. If the Command Prompt menu appears , right-click the menu and select ” Run as administrator “.
4. Instantly a Command Prompt window will appear in front of you. Then, type or copy this code: wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
5. Press enter. The product key will appear below the command code you wrote down.
Check via PowerShell
Apart from using the Command Prompt, you can also see the product key from the PowerShell menu. You can try this method if the method via Command Prompt doesn’t work. Here are the steps.
1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type “powershell”.
3. When the PowerShell menu appears , click ” Run as administrator ” on the right.
4. Type or copy this command code: (Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’). OA3xOriginalProductKey
5. Press enter. The product key will appear for a few moments.
Check Through Special Script
If the Command Prompt and PowerShell methods fail to bring up the product key , there is still one other way without an application that you can practice. That way is to use a visual basic script. Here are the stages.
1. Open the special script by downloading it here.
2. Copy the entire contents of the script by pressing Ctrl + A then Ctrl + C.
3. Create a new notepad on the desktop. You do this by right-clicking on the desktop, clicking ” New “, clicking ” Text document “. Then, name it as you like.
4. Open the document, then paste the script in it.
5. Change the extension by clicking file, save as , and write the .vbs behind the file name. Click save.
6. Double-click the document file that you changed the extension from the desktop.
7. Now the product key will appear in a flash.
8. You can write it down manually or save it by clicking “Yes”.
9. If you choose to save, it will automatically create a “WindowsKeyInfo” file in the form of a notepad on the desktop.
Using Additional Applications
The special script method above has a high success rate. Even so, you may not find results. Especially if you are using Windows 10 which is activated via digital entitlement.
This type of Windows 10 comes from the free upgrade facility provided by Microsoft for owners of the original serial number Windows 7, 8, and 8.1
You don’t have to worry if a situation like this happens. Because, there is a free keyfinder application that can help you to reveal the product key on the laptop. Here are some applications that you can try.
Magical Jelly Bean
Magical Jelly Bean is a magical piece of software that can find all kinds of codes stored on a laptop. Such as WiFi passwords, Microsoft Office serial numbers, to Windows product keys. You can use it by following the steps below.
1. Download the free version of the application on the official Magical Jelly Bean website, or it could be from here.
2. Install and wait for about five minutes.
3. Open the application.
4. Instantly information about installed Windows will appear. The product key is shown with the description of the CD Key.
NirSoft ProductKey
Just like Magical Jelly Bean, NirSoft is also a powerful application that can find product keys from software installed on a computer. How to use it as follows:
1. Download the application zip file here for Windows 10 32 bit users, and here for those of you who use Windows 10 64 bit.
2. Extract the files that you have downloaded with an extractor such as Winrar.
3. Double-click the file named ProduKey of the Application type to run the program.
4. In an instant a window will appear revealing the product keys of several software, including Windows 10.
This is a brief explanation of the Windows 10 product key and several ways to find it. From some of the methods described above.
We succeeded in doing it with the vbs script method, the Magical Jelly Bean application, and NirSoft ProductKey. Each laptop will probably have success in a variety of ways.
We recommend that you immediately back up when the product key has been found. Can be stored on a flash disk or stored in cloud storage such as Google Drive or One Drive. That way, you will be able to access it any time you need it. Good luck!