How to Find Your Windows 11 Product Key

With Windows 10 reaching end-of-life in 2025, there will be a significant number of people opting to upgrade to Windows 11. There are plenty of ways to upgrade, including doing a fresh installation on the same or a different PC. Since Windows 11 forces users to upgrade to the latest hardware, if you recently upgraded to a new PC, it’s important to find and keep the product key to avail the free Windows 11 upgrade. Thankfully, there are many ways to find your Windows 11 product key, and we shall touch on every method, comprehensively.

What Is a Windows 11 Product Key and How to Find It?

For those wondering, a product key is a 25-character code used to activate Windows on a new computer. Windows is not free, and you need to buy the product key to take advantage of extra features.

In most cases, this key is hardware bound and is restored as a digital key from Microsoft’s servers. This means the Windows activation will carry over after the upgrade. It’s also worth mentioning that in case of laptops, the product key is tied to its motherboard and can only be used on that particular laptop. These product keys are called OEM license keys.

So, here are all the ways you can find the product key on a Windows 11 computer:

Method 1: Find Windows 11 Product Key Using PowerShell

To quickly find your Windows 11 product key, there’s a command that you can use in the PowerShell which instantly returns the key. Here’s how to find it:

1. Search for “powershell” inside the Start menu, select Windows PowerShell and click on Run as administrator.

2. Copy the following command. Paste it and hit the Enter key.

(Get-CimInstance -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey

3. The command should return your laptop/PC’s original Windows Product Key. Just screenshot it or note it down somewhere so that you never lose it.

Method 2: Find Windows 11 Product Key Using a Third-Party App

Although we wouldn’t recommend using third-party apps to find your product key, but ShowKeyPlus is an open-source app, so you don’t need to worry. It shows you your Windows key in a pretty neat interface.

1. Install ShowKeyPlus from Microsoft Store (website).

2. Launch the app, and it should instantly show you the Windows Key beside Installed Key.

The app is not just limited to showing you the installed key, but it also shows you the product name, ID, build version to find out the Windows version, and lastly, the OEM key.

Method 3: Find Product Key on Windows 11 Using VBS Script

If the above methods didn’t work, fret not. You can also use a Visual Basic script to find your Windows 11 product key. It is an advanced method as you will need to create a VBS script file yourself. To do that, follow the instructions below:

1. Copy and paste the following code into a new Notepad file. Make sure to copy the entire script as is.

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

2. Once pasted, save the file as productkey.vbs or any name but with a VBS extension toward the end. For better accessibility, save it to Desktop.

3. Double-click on the VBS file you just created, and it should instantly open a popup window showing your Windows license key.

Method 4: Check Windows License Using Registry Editor

The Registry Editor contains almost all the key information about your computer, and it also allows you to change the way Windows works. That said, you can check your Windows license using the same, and here’s how:

1. Open the Start Menu, search and select Registry Editor.
2. In the Registry editor, head over to the following section.

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

3. Check the BackupProductKeyDefault option, whose set value is the key of your Windows installation.

Method 5: Check the Sticker On Computer

If you have a Windows laptop, the license sticker is generally glued to the underside of the computer. Just turn back your laptop and look for a 25-character product key. Keep in mind, if you bought the laptop running Windows 10 or 7, the license key will still work without any issues on your upgraded Windows 11 PC.

However, if you bought the product key online, you need to look for the email or invoice slip and find the license key. Apart from that, if you got the product key from a retail package, look inside the package and the disc to find the key.

Method 6: Contact System Administrator for Product Key

If the Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise is managed by your organization/ business, you can’t access the license key on your own. In that case, you will have to contact your system administrator, who takes care of deploying Windows on your machine.

You can also contact the IT department of your company to find the product key of your system. These machines generally use MSDN Volume Licensing provided by Microsoft, and only an administrator can access the product key.

Method 7: Contact Microsoft Support To Find Product Key

If you are unable to find your Windows 11 product key after going through all the methods mentioned above, it’s best to contact Microsoft Support (website). You can visit the site and sign in with your Microsoft account to log your grievance.

After that, enter your phone number and an agent from Microsoft will call you regarding activation. This way, you can get to know your Windows 11 product key directly from Microsoft Support.

How to Check If My Windows 11 Computer is Activated?

To check whether your Windows 11 laptop or PC is activated or not, you simply need to head to the Settings app. You can open the Settings app using the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. After that, move to System > Activation. If it shows Active with a green check mark, Windows 11 is active on your computer.

If you’re not running an activated copy of Windows, you’d need to buy it from Microsoft. Then you can follow this step-by-step guide to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10.

So these are the five ways you can use to find the Windows 11 product key on your PC. For me, running the command on the CMD window worked like a charm. If that didn’t work for you, the third-party tool is an excellent alternative. Not to mention, you still have the VBS script that displays your license key instantly. Now that you know how to check your Windows product key, you might want to dwell into the difference between Windows 11 Home and Pro. If you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below.