Get the Hardware ID of a Device in Windows Runtime Apps

In this blog, we learn how to get unique Hardware ID of device in Windows Runtime Apps (Windows and Windows Phone 8.1).

Step 1

First create a blank Windows Project. Name it ‘UniqueHardwareId’.

Step 2

In MainPage.xaml add a button with click event and a textbox to display the hardware id:

Complete XAML code

<Page
x:Class="UniqueHardwareId.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:UniqueHardwareId"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d">

<Grid Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<Button x:Name="btnGetHwId" Content="Get Hardware ID" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="353,250,0,0" Height="99" FontSize="35" Width="743" Click="btnGetHwId_Click"/>
<TextBox x:Name="txtId" HorizontalAlignment="Left" FontSize="30" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="356,409,0,0" Height="87" Width="737"/>

</Grid>
</Page>

Step 3

In the code behind MainPage.xaml.cs, update code with, 

using System;
using Windows.Storage.Streams;
using Windows.System.Profile;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
namespace UniqueHardwareId
{
    public sealed partial class MainPage: Page
    {
        public MainPage()
        {
            this.InitializeComponent();
        }
        private void btnGetHwId_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                var hardwareToken = HardwareIdentification.GetPackageSpecificToken(null);
                var hardwareId = hardwareToken.Id;
                var dataReader = DataReader.FromBuffer(hardwareId);
                byte[] bytes = new byte[hardwareId.Length];
                dataReader.ReadBytes(bytes);
                txtId.Text = BitConverter.ToString(bytes);
            } catch (Exception ex) {}
        }
    }
}

Step 4

Run the application, click on the button. You see the Hardware Id in the textbox field.



You can also get the complete project from GitHub.