Don't worry if you lost the product key of the Windows operating system. On this page, we'll be presenting you with 5 methods and detailed steps to guide you to recover the lost product key on Windows 11/10/8/7 successfully on your own.
How to Recover Lost Product Key on Windows? 5 Methods Are Here to Help
As we know that Windows product keys are widely used for Windows operating system activation or reactivation after reinstalling or migrating the OS. However, if you lost or failed to save the product key, how will you be able to find it on your computer?
Don't worry. Here, we'll list 5 reliable methods that you can follow anyone with the respective guide steps to recover lost product key on Windows 11/10/8/7 successfully. Let' see.
5 Methods to Recover Lost Product Key on Windows:
- #1. Check the COA Sticker
- #2. 1-Click Windows Product Key Finder
- #3. Powershell Command
- #4. CMD Command
- #5. Notepad
Note that the methods are listed from easy to complex. For the easiest methods, Method 1 and Method 2 are recommended. For a more complex Windows built-in method, you may try Method 3, Method 4, and Method 5.
Here the following, we'll take the latest Windows 11 as an example to show you the whole process. Let's go and follow the respective methods to start finding your missing or lost Windows product key now.
Read Also:Find Windows 11 Product Key Using CMD
Method 1. Find Product Key of Windows 11/10/8/7 from COA Sticker
COA Sticker, known as Certificate of Authenticity Sticker, is widely used on computers that are shipped with Windows operating system by multiple computer manufacturers. The COA sticker verifies that the laptop or desktop computer is shipped with an authentic copy of Windows. Also, the stick is printed with a product key of the current computer operating system.
Therefore, if your computer is installed with the original Windows, you can directly check the Windows COA stick and find the missing product key:
Step 1.Check the back case or the keyboard area of your computer.
Currently, most COA stickers are pasted at the back of the computer.
Step 2.Find the lost product key of your Windows computer.
Usually, it's a serial of numbers printed under the Product Key area on the COA sticker.
Note that if you upgrade Windows OS, the original product key printed on the COA sticker may not work. And you can follow Method 2, 3, 4, 5 to find the current key on your computer.
Method 2. Recover Lost Product Key on Windows 11/10/8/7 with Product Key Finder
The other easy way to recover lost product key on Windows 11/10/8/7, and even older Windows PC is turning to reliable product key finder software -EaseUS Key Finderfor help.
With this product key finder, you can simply recover the lost product key on a Windows computer within one click. See what else you can do with this software:
Free Download
Support Windows 11/10/8/7
Step 1. Click "Windows" tab under the Registry Key.
Step 2. Check Windows product key on the right side. Click "Copy" to paste. Or select other two options:
"Save" - Save to local as a PDF file.
"Print" - Click to print key file.
Method 3. Find Lost Product Key on Windows 11/10/8.1 via Powershell Command
On some latest Windows computers, the product key of Windows OS is not printed on the COS sticker. Some product keys are stored in the PC's hardware like UEFI firmware or BIOS by the manufacture.
Users can directly use and even reinstall the same edition of Windows on the computer. In this case, you can try to run the Windows PowerShell command to find the product key. Here are the steps:
Step 1.Right-click the Windows icon at the start menu and select "Windows PowerShell".
Step 2.Type the command line into Windows PowerShell:
(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey
Step 3.Wait for Windows PowerShell to present you with the embedded license key of the current Windows OS on your PC.
Method 4. Run CMD Command to Find Lost Product Key On Windows
The other similar way to PowerShell Command is to run the CMD command on a Windows computer and recover the lost product key. This is especially useful in finding product keys on old Windows 7 computers.
Of course, this also works on Windows 11/10/8 new computers. Let's see the detailed steps:
Step 1.Typecmdin the search box, right-click "Command Prompt"and select "Run as Administrator".
Step 2.Type the command line in the CMD window and hit Enter:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
Step 3.Wait for the prompt to find your product key on a computer.
How to Find Windows 10 Product Key Using Command Prompt
Do you want to learn how to find Windows 10 product key using Command Prompt? Learn the easiest way to find the Windows 10 product key in this guide. Dive into learning how.
Method 5. Find Lost Product Key on Windows via Notepad
The last effective way that you can try is to run Notepad with certain commands and save the file as a product key finder.
It will automatically find the product key of your current OS. Here are the steps:
Step 1.Create a new notepad and paste the following content into the notepad:
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.Go to File >Save As >Change the "Save as type" to "All Files".
Step 3.Name the notepad asproductkey.vbs.
Step 4.Save the file to your desktop.
Step 5.Double-click the productkey fileand you'll be showing the product of your current operating system.
Recovering Lost Product Key on Windows Is Easy, Go and Find It Now
On this page, we included 5 methods that can help you recover lost product keys on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 and even older versions of Windows.
Among the 5 methods, COA sticker and 1-click Product Key Finder - EaseUS Key Finder are the two easiest tricks that you can apply to recover a lost Windows serial key.
Free Download
Support Windows 11/10/8/7
The other three methods, though a bit more complex, are still reliable that you can follow carefully to find the missing key. As long as the Windows product key is important, go and follow to find it now.
