A Windows product key is a 25-character code used to activate Windows, that looks like: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
When Windows is getting installed on a computer, it stores its product key in a registry from where anyone can view it.
This short note shows how to find your Windows product key using a Windows command prompt (CMD).
Cool Tip: How to check a Windows license type ! Read more →
How To Find Windows Product Key
Press ⊞ Win keybutton to open the Start menu, type in cmd and click on the “Command Prompt” app to launch the CMD.
To find the Windows product key, execute the following command:
C:\> wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
The command above gets the Windows product key value from the registry and displays it in the command prompt window.
That command won’t return my Key for some reason! BUMMER ;-( (I’m kicking rox)
The only return I rec’d was:
Node – MEDUSA <— that's my laptop
ERROR:
Description = Invalid query
What's up with that? Q – Does this command ONLY work on Win 10 ^?
yeah – this command won’t work on Windows11