How to check what Windows 10 build you are on in two easy steps

Many users of Windows 10 have a solid idea of which build they are on. In fact, most consumers likely do not know, and that is an OK thing. Windows 10 should be transparent, and users should not have to know the exact build of the OS they are running.

Windows Insiders, however, are a different breed. You, folks, like to keep tabs on every release and sometimes, just sometimes, you may have forgotten which build you are on. Alternatively, sometimes things update but you do not know what changed.

Luckily, you can discover which build you are for Windows 10 in two easy steps. Let’s go!

Check Windows 10 Build Version

1. Win + R

Open up the run command with the Win + R key combo

2. Launch winver

Simply type in winver into the run command text box and hit OK

That is it. You should now see a dialog screen revealing the OS build and registration information.

Another way instead of using Win + R is to (1) type in winver into the Cortana search box and (2) select the first surfaced result.

Note, if you are a Windows 10 Insider, you will likely have an expiration date for the build. No need to fret over this as you can always stop getting insider builds and your OS will revert to a non-expiring edition. In theory, Microsoft is going to keep updating Windows 10 through the Insider Program and this date will continually get pushed back.

Also, as an interesting observation, I noticed my OS shows Windows 8 at the top. Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul notes that this is just a bug and most users will see Windows 10 or even just Windows at the top.

Finally, I am sure many of you have noticed the return of the ‘test mode’ watermark on the 10525 desktop. For Insiders, this is also the easiest way to check your build number 😉

Anyway, hopefully, you now know how to quickly check your build number!

More Info

For more basic info on Windows 10, including some tips and our vast array of how-to articles, make sure you head to our main Windows 10 help page or jump into our forums!

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Which version of Windows operating system am I running?

Find operating system info in Windows 10

To find out which version of Windows your device is running, press the Windows logo key + R, type winver in the Open box, and then select OK.

Here’s how to learn more:

Select the Start button > Settings > System > About .

Under Device specifications > System type, see if you’re running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

Under Windows specifications, check which edition and version of Windows your device is running.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate in Windows 10.

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Find operating system info in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1

To find out which version of Windows your device is running, press the Windows logo key + R, type winver in the Open box, and then select OK.

If your device is running Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, here’s how to learn more:

If you’re using a touch device, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. Continue to step 3.

If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.

Select PC and devices > PC info.

Under Windows you’ll see which edition and version of Windows your device is running.

Under PC > System type you’ll see if you’re running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Find operating system info in Windows 7

Select the Start button, type Computer in the search box, right-click on Computer, and then select Properties.

Under Windows edition, you’ll see the version and edition of Windows that your device is running.

Support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020

We recommend you move to a Windows 10 PC to continue to receive security updates from Microsoft.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Windows 10 find version and build

“Windows 10” is apparently here to stay, and Microsoft won’t be bumping things up to Windows 11 any time soon. Here’s how to find out what “build” of Windows 10 you have — you can think of it like a service pack level — as well as which edition and version of the operating system you have.

Microsoft has hidden the build number in an attempt to make Windows 10 look always-up-to-date, and there are still different editions of Windows 10 with different features. Microsoft is also still offering both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 10, too.

Use the Settings App

The new Settings application also offers this information in a user-friendly form. To launch it, click or tap the Start button and select Settings.

Navigate to System > About and scroll down. You’ll see the “Version” and “Build” numbers here.

• Edition: The “Edition” line tells you which edition of Windows 10 you’re using — Windows 10 Home, Professional, Enterprise, or Education. If you’d like to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional, you can upgrade to the Professional edition from within Windows 10. Switching to Windows 10 Enterprise or Education editions will require a complete reinstall and a special key that isn’t made available to normal home Windows users.
• Build Number: Look at the “Version” and “OS Build” lines. If you have the original version of Windows 10, you’ll just see “OS Build 10240”. This was the initial release of Windows 10. If you have the “November Update” version of Windows 10 — Windows 10’s first big update— you’ll see a new version number scheme here. It’ll say “Version 1511 (OS Build 10576.29)”.
  The “1511” is the key. This number identifies that you’re using the build of Windows 10 released in November (the 11th month) of 2015. If Microsoft were to release a build of Windows 10 in April (the 4th month) of 2016, its version number would be “Version 1604”.
• 64-bit or 32-bit: The “System type” line tells you whether you’re using the 32-bit version of Windows 10 or the 64-bit version. It also tells you whether your PC is compatible with the 64-bit version or not.
  For example, “64-bit operating system, x64-based processor” indicates you’re using a 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a 64-bit processor. “32-bit operating system, x64-based processor” indicates you’re using a 32-bit version of Windows 10, but you could install the 64-bit version on your hardware if you preferred.

Use the Winver Dialog and Control Panel

You can use the old standby “winver” tool to find the build number of your Windows 10 system. To launch it, you can tap the Windows key, type “winver” into the Start menu, and press Enter. You could also press Windows Key + R, type “winver” into the Run dialog, and press Enter.

The second line here will tell you which build of Windows 10 you have. Again, the version number is in the form YYMM, where 1511 means the 11th month of 2015.

You’ll also see the edition of Windows 10 you’re using displayed in the winver dialog. It states “Windows 10 Home” in the screen above.

The winver dialog doesn’t display whether you’re using a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows 10, but the Control Panel does. To open this screen, right-click “This PC” in a File Explorer window and select “Properties”. You can also open the Control Panel window, click “System and Security,” and then click “System”.

The “Windows edition” section at the top of the window displays which edition of Windows 10 you’re using, while the “System type” line here displays whether you’re using a 64-bit or 32-bit edition of Windows 10, and whether your computer’s hardware is 64-bit compatible or not.

This information is important if you want to know whether your Windows 10 machine has received an update yet, figure out if you have a feature available only in certain editions of Windows, or find out whether you should download the 64-bit version of a program or not.

How to Find Your Windows 10 Build Number, Version, Edition and Bitness

The Build Number, Version, “Bit”ness (32-bit or 64-bit) of your Windows installation can be determined using many ways, and here are some of the methods listed. Screenshots are from a Windows 10 PC, but most of the information applies to all versions of Windows.

Find Windows 10 Build Number, Version, Edition and Bitness

System Settings App

In Windows 10, use the System Settings app to find the OS information. Click Start, type About your PC. Click About your PC from the results.

System – Control Panel

Press Winkey + Pause-break keys. This opens the Control Panel → All Control Panel Items → System. Alternately, you can run sysdm.cpl directly.

Note: Since the Windows 10 v20H2 update, the following interface is hidden. Pressing the Winkey + Pause-break would take you to the modern Settings page instead. Microsoft is gradually porting items from the classic Control Panel to the Settings user interface. However, you can access the classic System panel by running this shell command from the Run dialog.

Using the DirectX Diagnostic Tool

Using WMIC (WMI command-line tool)

Open a Command Prompt window and type:

The WMIC command-line (mentioning “OSArchitecture”) tells you the bitness of your Windows. You can get as many details as you need using WMIC OS Get command, such as:

Note: Here is a complete list of fields you can retrieve using WMIC OS Get (which uses the Win32_OperatingSystem class)

In addition to all of the above methods, you can check the Help → About page any Windows desktop application like Notepad, Wordpad, Internet Explorer or others, for the Windows version & build information.

Note: The following methods don’t tell you whether you have an x64 version of Windows installed or not. They only show the OS installed and the System or Processor type (x86 or x64). System Type x64 means the processor is 64-bit. But that does not necessarily mean you have Windows x64. It could be Windows x86 OS running on an x64 CPU based machine.

System Information Utility

The System Information utility (MSInfo32.exe) has the details you need.

Scroll down and check the Hardware Abstraction Layer field. It also shows the full build number, including the minor build number.

About Windows (WinVer)

Alternately, in Command Prompt, run the ver.exe command to know the OS build number.

Watermark on the Desktop

If you’ve added the PaintDesktopVersion or the DisplayVersion registry values as in article Display Build Info, Version and WinDir Path in the Desktop, you’ll see the Windows Edition, Build Information and WinDir path in the desktop shown as a watermark. For evaluation versions of Windows, the watermark displays by default.

Using SystemInfo.exe Command-line tool

Open a Command Prompt window and type in:

The SystemInfo command outputs more information than you need. To get the OS Name and OS Version fields from the output, type this in the Command Prompt window:

The findstr command will parse the output and display only the two lines (OS name and version.)

Windows 10 Build/Version Upgrade History

Did you know that Windows 10 keeps track of your every build/feature upgrade in the registry? Redditor u/sizzlr has found an interesting registry location and wrote a PowerShell script to unscramble the Windows 10 build installation dates from the registry.

Every time you install a feature update, Windows 10 creates a new subkey named “Source OS (Updated on )” and a bunch of values in the right pane. The registry key is located at:

Additionally, there are two values, namely InstallTime and InstallDate, which store the install date and time. The following PowerShell script gathers all the details for you and presents in a table:

Do you know any other methods to find the Windows build, OS version and bitness? Let’s know in the Comments section below.