How to Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated

Simple tricks to view the activation status of Windows 10 and earlier versions

This wikiHow article will teach you how to check if your copy of Microsoft Windows is activated and licensed.

Things You Should Know

  • If you're using Windows 10, open your Settings, select "Update & Security," and then choose "Activation" to view the status.
  • For Windows 8, Press the Windows key and Pause keys at the same time to find the status.
  • On Windows 7 and Vista, right-click Computer and select "Properties" for activation information.
Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Windows 10

  1. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 1
    1
    Open the Settings app. Click the Start
    Windows Start
    button and click the settings
    Windows Settings
    gear.
  2. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 2
    2
    Click Update & Security.
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  3. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 3
    3
    Click Activation from the left pane.
  4. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 4
    4
    Check if Windows is activated. Review the text to the right of "Activation" under the "Windows" header.
    • If Windows is activated, something along the lines of "Windows is activated..." will be displayed.
    • If Windows isn't activated, "Windows is not activated" will be displayed.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Windows 8

  1. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 5
    1
    Press the ⊞ Win+Pause keys simultaneously. This will open the System Properties window in the Control Panel.
  2. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 6
    2
    Review your activation status. Look under the "Windows activation" section to see if Windows is activated. Since it's at the bottom of the System Properties window, you may need to scroll down.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Windows 7 and Vista

  1. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 7
    1
    Click the Start
    Windows 7 Start
    button.
  2. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 8
    2
    Right-click on Computer in the right column.
  3. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 9
    3
    Click Properties from the context menu. This will open the System Properties window in the Control Panel.
  4. Image titled Check if Microsoft Windows is Activated Step 10
    4
    Review your activation status. Look under the "Windows activation" section to see if Windows is activated. Since it's at the bottom of the System Properties window, you may need to scroll down.
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 17 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 60,165 times.
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Co-authors: 17
Updated: October 25, 2022
Views: 60,165
Categories: Windows
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