How to change the product key on Windows 10

Windows 10 requires activation to verify you’re running a genuine copy; a unique product key is used to ensure the a single licensed copy of Windows isn’t being used on more than are allowed.

Occasionally, you may have to change the product key. If you’re getting Windows 10 for the first time and a product key wasn’t provided during the installation, or a generic key was used to upgrade, you’ll need a new valid product key to activate the operating system.

In this Windows 10 guide, you’ll learn five ways to bring up the Windows activation tool to change the product key on your computer.

How to change Windows 10’s product key using Settings

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Update & security.
3. Click on Activation.

Click the Change product key link.

Click Next to complete the process.

If the activation process completes successfully, you’ll get the «Windows is activated» message.

How to change Windows 10’s product key using Control Panel

Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu and select System.

Click the Change product key link under the Windows activation section.

Click Next to complete the process.

Similar to the Settings app, if the activation process completes successfully, you’ll get the «Windows is activated» message.

How to change Windows 10’s product key using Command Prompt

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search for Command Prompt.
3. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator.

Type the following command using your 25-digit product key and press Enter:

If you typed the product key correctly and the process completes successfully, you’ll see a dialog box reading «Installed product key YOURP-RODUC-TKEYX-XXXXX-XXXXX successfully.»

How to change Windows 10’s product key using SLUI 3

1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
2. Type slui.exe 3 and click OK to open the Windows activation client.

Type the 25-digit product key for the version of Windows 10 you want.

Click Next to complete the task.

If the activation process completes successfully, you’ll get the «Windows is activated» message.

How to change Windows 10’s product key using CHANGEPK

1. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
2. Type changepk.exe and click OK to open the Windows activation client.

Enter the 25-digit product key for the version of Windows 10 you want.

Click Next to complete the task.

If the activation process completes successfully, you’ll get the «Windows is activated» message.

Alternatively, you can use change the product key using changepk.exe using the Command Prompt as well. Here’s how:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search for Command Prompt.
3. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator.

Type the following command using your 25-digit product key and press Enter:

Wrapping things up

While for the most part, you’ll be using the Settings app to change the product key on Windows 10, if the option isn’t available or if you’re looking to create a script to change the product key on your computer, it’s good to have different alternatives.

If you’re trying to upgrade the operating system by purchasing a new license from the Windows Store, everything regarding the product key will be handled automatically for you.

Also, remember that you must be signed in with an administrator account to change your system’s product key, and you’ll need an internet connection to complete the activation.

In the case, you recently made significant hardware changes to your PC, and Windows 10 won’t activate, you can use the Activation Troubleshooter to re-activate your copy of Windows 10.

Although this guide is specific to Windows 10, the Control Panel, slui.exe, and slmgr.vbs methods that we’re showing you here will work to change the product key on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.

More Windows 10 resources

For more help articles, coverage, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources:

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How to deactivate Windows 10 and change the product key

Activation is a protection mechanism implemented in Windows 10 and earlier versions against piracy. It first appeared in Windows XP and exists with different changes and improvements in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. When activation is successful, usually it indicates that your copy of Windows is genuine. There may be times when you need to deactivate your copy of Windows 10 in order to transfer your license to another PC. Here is how you can deactivate your copy of Windows 10.

In this article, we will see how to deactivate Windows 10 by uninstalling the product key. Additionally, we will see how to install another product key instead.

To deactivate Windows 10 by uninstalling the product key, you need to do the following:

Wait till the command finishes its work. At the end, you will see the following message:

Windows 10 will become deactivated. You can visit the Settings app and check out the «Activation» page and check the activation state. It will look like this:

After you deactivate Windows 10, you might be interested in clearing the product key from the Registry so it cannot be viewed with special apps and scripts.

Please keep in mind that if you reach the online activation limit, e.g. by activating many PCs with the same key, you may have to activate your copy of Windows by phone since the online activation will fail.

To install a new product key, you need to type the following command in the elevated command prompt:

We have a nice article which covers this process in detail: How to change Windows 10 product key.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

11 thoughts on “ How to deactivate Windows 10 and change the product key ”

it showed me you havent the autorisation

hi the same thing happened to me until i ran cmd as an administrator

Hello,
I really appreciate your post and it is very insightful. However, i have an issue with my computer it keeps showing windows license will expire soon and it is activated with GVLK.
I have tried using all product key found on the internet it yielded no result as the problem still persist.

i don’t know how to solve this problem..please i need help with guidance.

Dear MS ,
How to deactivate-windows-10 key from my old PC.could you please share the process details to my mail with deactivate link ?

How can I see my old license key I want to uninstall from one computer? I need the old one because I’m trying to transfer it to a new computer.

Would deactivating my key enable me to install Windows 10 professional on the computer that I have the Key On?

Those methods on this page to de-activate / remove the windows 10 license, couldn’t remove the ‘ Digital license ‘ from the Pc, so it shows windows is digitally activated with a digital license but in the properties page shows windows is activated.
Please help me to remove this digital license. Thank you.

Those methods on this page to de-activate / remove the windows 10 license, couldn’t remove the ‘ Digital license ‘ from the Pc, so it shows windows is digitally activated with a digital license but in the properties page shows windows is not activated.
Please help me to remove this digital license. Thank you.

Same here. Even after using this method, it still shows that windows is activated

5 Ways To Change Windows 10 Product Key

Last Updated on March 11, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

There are a couple of reasons why you would want to change your Windows 10 product key. Maybe the current product key is not valid, or perhaps, you determined that it’s a pirated key, and you want to replace the current product key with a new one without reinstalling Windows 10.

Windows 10 offers five easy ways to change the product key. You can use Settings, System Properties, and Command Prompt to change your Windows 10 product key with ease.

The following are the five methods to change Windows 10 product key.

Method 1 of 5

Use Settings app to change Windows 10 product key

Step 1: Launch the Settings app. At the home page of Settings, click Update & Security icon.

Step 2: Click Activation.

Step 3: Under Update product key section, click Change product key link. Click Yes button when you see the User Account Control prompt.

Step 4: When you see the following Enter a product key dialog, enter your new Windows 10 product key and then click the Next button to connect to Microsoft activation servers and activate your copy of Windows 10 using the newly entered product key.

Method 2 of 5

Another method to use the Settings app to change Windows 10 product key

Step 1: Open the Settings app. Navigate to System > About.

Step 2: In the Windows specification section, click Change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows link to open the Activation page of Settings.

Step 3: From here on, follow the directions mentioned in Step 3 and 4 of Method 1 to change your Windows 10 product key.

Method 3 of 5

Use System Properties to change Windows 10 product key

Step 1: Open System Properties window. To do so, you can right-click on This PC (Computer) icon on your desktop and then click Properties.

If This PC icon is not on the desktop, open up This PC (Computer), right-click on This PC icon in the left navigation pane, and then click Properties.

Step 2: Under the Windows activation section, click Change product key link. Click Yes button when you see the User Account Control screen.

Step 3: When you see Enter a product key screen, type in your new Windows 10 product key and then press Enter key on your keyboard. Windows 10 will connect to Microsoft activation servers and activate your license if the key is valid.

Method 4 of 5

Use Slui to change Windows 10 product key

Step 1: Type Slui in Start menu or taskbar search box and then press Enter key. Click Yes button if you get UAC prompt.

Step 2: In the Enter a product key dialog, type in the new product key and then click the Next button to change the product key.

Method 5 of 5

Use Command Prompt to change windows 10 product key

Like previous versions of Windows, Windows 10 also supports changing product key from Command Prompt.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator. To do so, type CMD in the Start/taskbar search, right-click on the Command Prompt entry in the search results, and click Run as administrator option.

Step 2: At the Command Prompt window, execute the following command:

slmgr.vbs -ipk

You will see Installed product key successfully message once the key is changed.