If earlier, with the definition of the product key that you had to enter to activate the installed or already installed Windows, if you skipped this step at the installation stage, you could look directly at the packaging box with the disk on which the distribution kit was recorded, then with the release of the tenth modification this was decided to refuse, and users themselves have to puzzle over where to find the product key in Windows 10.
This can be done by several methods proposed for consideration below, which to ordinary users may seem quite complex and very simple. But other methods, alas, do not exist. In addition, before looking for such information, it is advisable to find out whether the system has been activated. To make sure that the system is in the activated state can be done quite simply through the properties of the computer.
Is there a difference between a license key and a Windows 10 activation key?
Concerning this issue, many novice users very often have real confusion. In theory, if we are talking about standard activation of a system that is carried out at the installation stage by entering the appropriate combination or in an already installed system via the command line, there is absolutely no difference between these terms.
But if you are activating the system over the phone, it’s customary to understand the license key as the license code that you dictate to the operator, and by the activation key as the combination entered in the special fields that you receive from the operator.
Product Key Types
In addition, you must understand that such keys themselves can be different. At the moment, they are used in two main types:
- Product Key - the key of the installed digital modification of the system.
- OEM key - a code sewn directly into the motherboard by the manufacturer if the operating system is supplied in a pre-installed form.
These are only the main keys related to the operating system itself. However, in case of independent installation of the MS Office software suite, when it is used in the same preinstalled form or even in the “cloud” version, such codes will have to be found for these packages as well.
How to find out a product key in Windows 10 using a script?
Now we proceed directly to the search for the necessary information. How to find a product key in Windows 10? As one of the most commonly used methods, you can be advised to download a special script file from the Internet (usually such applets are freely available), and then execute it.
If you are embarrassed by the possible presence of virus codes in such an object, you can create a script yourself using the most usual Notepad and the text shown in the image above. When saving a file, you can enter a name arbitrarily, select “All files” in the saved format type, and after the name through a dot, add the VBS extension (.vbs) yourself.
After starting it and executing the commands present in the script, the system will display the same key. If you click on the "OK" button again, additional information about the product ID and version of Windows used will be displayed.
Defining a key through PowerShell
Now let's see how to find out the product key in Windows 10 using the PowerShell console, which is an extended version of the command line. To perform such an operation, you can also use a ready-made file with the PS1 extension (.ps1), after downloading it from the Internet and saving it in any place convenient for you (for example, on the “D” drive).
After that, start the PowerShell console as administrator, using either the search or creating a new task in the "Task Manager", then enter the command shown in the picture, agree to the change in the execution policy ("Y" key), and then specify the full path to the saved earlier file.
Note: you can also create a file with the necessary commands and save it by assigning the extension yourself, however the full set of commands looks too large and is not given for obvious reasons.
How to determine the OEM key?
You can determine the OEM keys in Windows 10, if the system was originally shipped in a preinstalled form, by using the administrative command line launch.
In it, simply enter the command shown in the image above, after which the key sewn into the UEFI (if any) will be shown in the work area.
If we talk about how to find the product key in Windows 10 in exactly the same way, but using the PowerShell console, you will need to run it as an administrator, as described above, but use the command shown in the following image.
Although this technique looks somewhat more complicated, it nevertheless works similarly to the method in which the command line is used.
Using third-party programs and finding keys for the "Office"
As you can see from the material presented above, almost all methods for novice users may seem quite complicated, and for some of them it may be necessary to create the appropriate script and script files yourself.
Therefore, it is much easier to use utilities specially developed for such purposes, such as ShowKeyPlus or ProduKey. The first program shows only the keys of Windows itself.
But if you need to find out the Office 365 product key for Windows 10, any other office suite, or even the IE browser version available in the system, it is better to use the second application.
In principle, if you are not happy with this option, you can use the keys and general informative programs that are known to almost every user to determine the keys. So, for example, utilities of the Speecy, AIDA64 (Everest), SIW and similar applications class can quite easily cope with such tasks. In them you just need to find a tab or section dedicated to the installed operating system, where all the information you are interested in will be presented, including the product code.
Summary
Summing up a peculiar final feature, it remains to say that the methods for determining keys presented to users are far from equivalent, and some generally look excessively abstruse and complicated. Therefore, in order to simplify your task as much as possible, it is best to use the portable utilities described above, which are designed specifically for “fishing out” keys from Windows 10.