Read the Windows product key stored in your PC's firmware — via Microsoft Learn

Commandlow riskNeeds adminWindows 11Windows 10

Most PCs that came with Windows have the key embedded in the UEFI firmware (OA3), and Windows activates from it automatically when you reinstall the same edition. One PowerShell line reads that key, for example to check which edition it belongs to.

Takes effect right away

The easy way

Run in an elevated PowerShell window.
If nothing is printed, the firmware holds no key (common on self-built PCs or volume-licensed machines).

Command

Run in an administrator PowerShell / Terminal window.

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

A product key is a secret. Don't post it in forums or screenshots. Older guides use wmic path softwarelicensingservice, but WMIC has now been removed from Windows 11 (see the WMIC entry).

Sources

Deploy Windows Enterprise licenses — by Microsoft Learn

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every Windows build, so keep the undo handy.

product keyoa3firmwareactivationpowershellreinstall

More in Setup & Install

See which Windows editions are inside an ISO or install.wim — via Microsoft Learn

Commandlow riskAdmin

One ISO usually holds several editions (Home, Pro, Education and more), each stored as a numbered index in install.wim or install.esd. DISM lists them along with their version and size, so you know which index is which before you deploy or extract one.

Heads-up: the BypassNRO / ms-cxh local-account shortcuts are being removed — via Windows Insider Blog

MythAdmin

Typing OOBE\BypassNRO or start ms-cxh:localonly at the Shift+F10 prompt used to let you skip the Microsoft account during setup. Microsoft announced in October 2025 that it is removing these known mechanisms, so newer builds require internet and a Microsoft account to finish OOBE.

Heads-up: Microsoft no longer documents a registry key for unsupported PCs — via Microsoft Support

MythAdmin

Guides still pass around the MoSetup 'AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU' registry value. Microsoft's current page about devices that don't meet the requirements has no registry method at all. It advises against installing Windows 11 on such PCs and warns they aren't guaranteed updates, including security updates.