Finding Lost Windows Product Key Using Command Prompt Or PowerShell

In this article we will go through some different methods by which we can find our lost Retail Product Key of our Windows 10/8.1 using command prompt or PowerShell from BIOS/Registry.

When we activate our windows copy using a product key, the information will be stored inside the Windows Registry. It is to be noted that the manufactures had stopped pasting their Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker, which shows the Windows Product Key on the machine. Now this Product Key is stored in the BIOS/UEFI.

As per the Microsoft Windows Desktop licensing terms and conditions, the Retail Product License will be given to the person whereas the OEM Product Key is attached to the machine.

Let's get started with Command prompt.

Run the Command Prompt as Administrator, type the following code snippet and hit Enter.

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Let's try the same with Windows PowerShell.

Run the Windows PowerShell as Administrator, type the following code snippet and hit Enter.

powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from SoftwareLicensingService').OA3xOriginalProductKey"

You can view the Windows Product Key. This will successfully work on Windows 10/ 8.1/ 7/ Vista. In Windows 10 the Product key is encrypted and attached to your Microsoft Account and stored in cloud by Microsoft.