[How To] Find your Windows 10 product key.

[anon(9424572)]

This is from the reputable Computeractive magazine in the UK.
To find your Windows 10 product key you could go here: Download Easily Retrieve Your Windows Product Key - MajorGeeks and choose Download@majorgeeks link, this should give you a Retrieve Windows Key.zip file which is clean/free of unwanted extras, save the .zip file & either extract the contents or just open the file & click on the key.vbs file & your key will be shown, press Ctrl + C to copy the key to paste it into Notepad or just write it down.
This way does not install any programs on your computer.

 

[fjordstrom]

This trick normally won't work with upgraded devices. It will show you a generic serial; the real product key (attached to your device) is stored in the cloud and isn't retrievable.

 

[Ivan05il]

You don't really need it, once W10 was activated, it will always activate if you reinstall on the same machine, you don't need to have the actual key.

 

[Tsang Fai]

As far as I know, "product key" retrieved in this way is not accepted during the installation of Windows 10.

When asked the product key, the option "skip" should be chosen. Once installation is finished, Windows 10 should be activated.

 

[rhapdog]

While this doesn't work with upgraded devices, it is useful to know for those who purchase a retail copy of Windows 10 that comes with a product key. Should they ever "lose" that copy of their product key for some reason, this method will allow them to retrieve it so they can write it down in a safe place should they ever need to do a clean install again. My understanding is that the retail copies will ask for the key, so it could come in handy for those. Especially since retail copies, unlike the "free upgrade", are not necessarily tied to a particular machine, but the product key. If your computer gets fried, you can always put that retail copy on another computer, as long as it isn't running on more than one at a time. I'm not talking about purchasing an OEM copy, because that will get tied to the one machine only. OEM copies should be getting their keys stored in the cloud as well as the upgrades.

 

[anon(9424572)]

It appeared to work for me in that I saw my key. This is directly from CA magazine who check these things before publishing.
Only time will tell if the 'trick' is successful for users.

 

[Ivan05il]

Retail key should behave the same way and unless you want to move it, the OS will activate without it. If you want to move it, you need to have that original key of course and that tool will be useful, should you lose the key.

Here's an interesting link about W10 licensing.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/...on-faq-we-figured-out-who-pays-and-who-doesnt

 

[RumoredNow]

I use ProduKey by NirSoft. They have lots of slick little utilities. Same deal. No install, just an executable without any unwanted garbage.

ProduKey will show you the OEM key held in your BIOS along with currently installed softwares. Useful for those who want to revert back to 7 or 8.1 and need a key to do so.

ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server