3 ways to change your Windows 10 product key

Have you already activated Windows 10 (for ex. using a generic key) and you want to change it to something else (ex. authentic key). It’s actually easier than you may think -there are a couple of ways to do it.

Difficulty level: Easy

3 ways to change your Windows 10 product key

Method 1: Via settings

1. Go to Settings, Update & security and Activation.
2. Click ‘Change product key’.
3. Enter your new product key (must be 25 digits).
4. Click Next and wait for Windows to accept and activate the key.

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Method 2: Using changepk.exe

1. Type ‘changepk.exe’ into the Search Windows box or Run box
2. Enter your new product key.
3. Click Next and wait for Windows to accept and activate the key.

Method 3: Using slmgr command

1. Open a CMD window as an administrator.
2. Type or paste ‘slmgr /ipk NEWPRODUCTKEY’. For example, you would paste something like ‘slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX’ into the window to change the key.
3. You should then see a small Windows Script Host window saying ‘Installed product key XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX successfully’.

Check activation status

Once you have changed your Windows 10 product key, you need to make sure it is activated.

1. Go to Settings, Update & security and Activation.
2. Check under Activation in the right pane, you should see ‘Windows is activated’.