When you’re format­ting your computer and need to reinstall Windows 8, you may need your Windows 8 product key at hand. The product key is a 25-character code used to activate your Windows licence. But what if you can’t remember where you wrote it down? No need to worry. You can still get your Windows 8 product key following the steps in this article.

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Situ­ations in which you need to find your Windows 8 product key

A product key is used to identify the rightful owner of a piece of software. By having the serial number or licence number at hand, Microsoft can verify that you actually purchased the program. Although software can be copied, the product key remains unique and can only be used for a single matching version of the software. This holds true for Windows 8 and many other operating systems and software. If you purchase a physical version of your operating system, the licence product key is usually located on the back of the box. However, if you lose the product key, finding it may prove a challenge.

When you reinstall your operating system, you will most likely be prompted to enter your product key. Therefore, it is advisable to get it in advance. If you’re unable to find it, for­tu­nately, there are ways to get your Windows 8 product key. You can use ad­di­tion­al software or Windows tools.

Note

As of the release of Windows 8, it is no longer ab­so­lutely necessary to be able to find your product key, es­pe­cially if you bought your computer or laptop from an OEM (Original Equipment Man­u­fac­turer) with a pre­in­stalled operating system. In this case, the product key is stored on the hardware and auto­mat­ic­ally unlocks your operating system as soon as you reinstall it.

Using a utility program to find your Windows 8 product key

There are many free programs which can be used to locate your Windows 8 serial number. The three ap­plic­a­tions described below are simple and basic tools for this purpose, and quickly deliver the desired results without having to deal with com­plic­ated settings.

Li­cen­seCrawl­er

Li­cen­seCrawl­er is free for private users. However, companies must purchase a licence. This small program scans the entire system and then lists the serial numbers for all ap­plic­a­tions. The tool allows you to find the product keys for other programs too. Its output is in the form of a simple text file which can be directly encrypted to protect sensitive in­form­a­tion.

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder

The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder does not just have a great name, it also delivers great results. This key finder scans the operating system’s registry for your Windows 8 licence product key. It even works when Windows is no longer bootable. The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder can be used to find the product keys for over 300 other programs. If the free version is not suf­fi­cient, a paid al­tern­at­ive called Recover Keys is available which provides even more features.

SterJo Key Finder

This key finder published by Sterjo Software gets sur­pris­ingly fast results. The software will find the Windows 8 product key within a few seconds of the program being started up. This key finder can also display the licence product keys for other programs. Using this key finder, you can get your Windows product key even if the operating system can no longer be booted up.

Using cmd or Power­Shell to find your Windows 8 product key

If you do not want to download ad­di­tion­al software and can work without a graphical interface, you should use the tools that are provided with the operating system. You can use cmd.exe or Power­Shell to find your Windows 8 licence product key. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialogue box and enter the command “cmd” in the input field to open the command prompt window.
Image: The Run dialogue box with the command prompt “cmd”
The easiest way to open the command prompt window is to use the Run dialogue box.

Al­tern­at­ively, you can also use the Run dialogue box to open the Windows tool Power­Shell.

Image: PowerShell command prompt in the dialogue box
Power­Shell is a command prompt with extensive features.
  1. Either in the command prompt window or in Power­Shell, enter the following command: wmic path soft­wareli­cens­ing­ser­vice get OA3xOri­gin­al­Pro­ductKey and confirm the command by hitting “Enter”. The program will give you the product key so that you can write it down or simply copy and paste it somewhere.
Image: The 25-character product key displayed in the command prompt window
It is very easy to get the Windows 8 product key using cmd.
Image: The 25-character product key displayed in PowerShell
You can also get the Windows 8 product key quickly in Power­Shell.
Tip

Are you using a different version of Microsoft’s operating system? Find out how to get your Windows 7 product key or your Windows 10 product key in these dedicated articles.

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