Windows product key in registry

Even though you can get Windows 10 free upgrade now if you are Windows computer user, and are able to successfully upgrade official Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10, Windows 10 product key seems to be not important for you because you don't need to activate windows 10 manually.

However, if you get a new computer preinstalled with Windows 10, and now you want to reinstall it to solve some system problems, Windows 10 product key will be necessary during reinstallation.

Now follow the article, you will get four effective methods to find Windows 10 product key in system registry after installation. Step 2: Run it and click Start Recovery button on bottom menu. Note: If you are using Product Key Finder trial version, now you would get a message on pop-up dialog, prompting you to Order Full Version or Enter Registration Code in order to find all Windows 10 product key codes.

Step 3: Preview and save Windows 10 product key and other software product keys. Just click Save To File button, and browse a location to save Windows 10 product key. Now you can reinstall Windows 10 on computer with this product key. Tips: If that is not Product Key Finder full version, users only could preview Windows 10 partial product key codes in this part. Even if Windows 10 is running normally on your computer, Windows 10 users could also run iSunshare Product Key Finder to get Windows 10 product key and make a backup.

As you might imagine, the product key is stored in the Windows 10 Registry File, so it is possible to find the code there if you know the right key. Type "regedit" into the Windows 10 desktop search and select the appropriate item in the results. Navigate to this key:. Note: In my case, the Windows 10 product key displayed by both the command prompt and PowerShell methods are the same.

In the registry example, however, the product keys is different. The best explanation I can suggest is that because I upgraded from Home to Pro on the example PC, the product key displayed is for the upgrade to Pro or vice versa. If you have a better solution, please let us know in the discussion.

There are third-party vendors offering applications that can locate and display your Windows 10 product key as well, but they essentially do the same thing we did here without involving someone else's programming and potential security issues. Also, keep in mind that if you bought Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store, your account order history would have product key information available.

Be your company's Microsoft insider by reading these Windows and Office tips, tricks, and cheat sheets. Delivered Mondays and Wednesdays.

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern. If you have upgraded from Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10 and linked your system to a Microsoft account then it is highly likely that you are using a Digital License.

You can check that by opening the Settings app. In those cases, your system will be registered with a Windows 10 generic product key. As such, the Windows 10 product key you get from the registry is a generic key.

A generic license key is only useful for temporary activation and not an alternative for the actual OEM or Retail Windows 10 product key. That is all. I hope that helps.