How to Get Windows 11 Product Key: 4 Proven Ways

A Windows product key is primarily for activation of your Windows installation and thus it can be useful when you run into an activation error. Since Windows 10, digital license has been applied and users don't need to enter a product key every time they reinstall or upgrade the system. However, it is sometimes required if there's a need to transfer license to another computer. Whatever the reason you need it, here are 4 effective ways to find the product key in your computer. Naturally, the prerequisite is that your Windows has already been activated.

1. Find product key using Registry Editor

Step 1: Press Windows+R to open Run command and type regedit in the box. Then click OK to open Registry Editor.

Step 2: Navigate to the following directory:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform

Step 3: Locate BackupProductKeyDefault key and double-click on it. The Value data shows the product key of your Windows.

2. Find product key using Command Prompt

Step 1: Press Windows+R to open Run command and type cmd in the box. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: Copy and paste the given below command in the window and hit Enter to execute it. This would reveal your product key on the screen.

wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey

3. Find product key using PowerShell

Step 1: Press Windows+R to open Run command and type powershell in the box. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: Launch the following command::

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

Note: Some may find their product key not showing in the Command Prompt and PowerShell, in such case, go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation, and then check the description of Activation. If it shows "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account", your OS is activated not using a product key. The digital licenses are associated with your hardware and linked to your Microsoft account, so there's nothing you need to find on your PC.

4. Find product key with VBS script

Step 1: Open Notepad on your computer, copy and paste the following script into the Notepad document:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))
Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

Step 2: Click File > Save As to keep the file.

Step 3: Input Productkey.vbs in the box of File name and choose All Files from the drop-down menu. Then click on Save.

Step 4: Double-click the newly created Productkey.vbs file to run the script. Then there will be a pop-up revealing your product key.