Retail keys are purchased directly from Microsoft, Amazon etc.

Again, these should be auto-applied from your UEFI/BIOS when reinstalling Windows on a modern boxed PC, but you can also retrieve them manually.

OEM keys are shipped with a specific computer and can't be transferred to another machine.

There are many types of Windows licenses with varying terms of use. It's just as relevant today, so we've bumped it as part of our #ThrowbackThursday initiative. And in a worst case scenario, you might be trying to find the license for a copy of Windows that no longer boots.Įditor's Note: This feature was originally published on December 2018. Not to mention that different conditions apply for non-OEM retail keys, as well as those given to people who upgraded to Windows 10 for free.

There may be other scenarios where you may still want to manually find a Windows key stored in your UEFI/BIOS, or prevent this key from automatically being applied during installation. We will explain that in better detail in a minute. So, if you have a newer Windows PC or you already log in using your Microsoft account, you generally shouldn't have to search for your original Windows 10 key. This means your Windows 10 license now ties Windows keys to Microsoft accounts, letting you activate a copy of the operating system simply by logging in with valid online credentials. But because your hardware can significantly change if you upgrade your hardware, this entitlement was expanded to become a 'Digital License' when 2016's Anniversary Update (1607) arrived. Windows 10 introduced a 'Digital Entitlement' element to Microsoft's license which links your Windows key to an ID generated based on your PC's hardware. We'll cover all you need to know in this article, from old school ways to retrieve keys, to the more modern approaches to make good use of your licenses and what restrictions may apply depending on your type of license. Microsoft has been changing and improving the way it handles Windows licenses. In other instances, for example if you built and installed your OS, your key is associated with your Microsoft account, so there is no way to 'lose it' anymore.

But in recent years manufacturers started storing this license within the machine's UEFI/BIOS and the information is automatically retrieved and applied when reinstalling the operating system. In brief For the longest time Windows PCs came with a product key sticker that was placed outside of the machine or with your computer's manuals.

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