This will ensure that you will not encounter any activation issues after upgrading to Windows 11. We recommend migrating your local account to a Microsoft account (if using a local user account on Windows 10) so that you can link your Windows 10 license to Microsoft account. So, it’s a good idea to make sure that your Windows 10 copy is activated before upgrading to Windows 11. However, if you want, you can check the Windows 11 activation status to make sure that your copy is activated. Therefore, you do not need to do anything to activate Windows 11 after upgrading from Windows 10. If you have a digital license, next to Activation it'll say Windows is activated with a digital license or Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.Your Windows 10 license will be automatically transferred to Windows 11, and your Windows 11 copy will be automatically activated in the background.

Click Update & Security, and then Activation in the left sidebar.

Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.

As long as you connect to the internet at some point later, you won't be asked for it again. If you have a digital license, when Windows asks you for the product key, click Do this later to skip the step. Even better, it's built into the OS - this means that if you need to reinstall or upgrade Windows, you won't need to enter it. This digital license serves all the same purposes as the product key. But if you got Windows 10 by upgrading from Windows 7 or 8.1, or by buying it through the Windows Store app, you also have a 'digital license.' digital licenseĮvery PC has a product key.

Here's how to find your product key - as well as see if you have a digital license. Note: You can still use Windows without the key, but it'll have some annoying DRM features. Same goes for major updates, like upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

If you ever need to reinstall Windows, you might need to enter it. Your product key is important for a few reasons. Every Windows computer has its own unique 25-character product key, and it's formatted like this: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. Your Windows 10 product key is a special receipt that shows you have an 'activated' copy of Windows. But without a receipt, how do you prove that you actually own Windows? Windows 10 is installed thousands of times a day on computers both new and old.

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