You will need to use the product key to activate Windows 10 if you purchased a copy of Windows 10 from a retailer (either in-store or online) or are using the Volume Licensing agreement for Windows 10 or MSDN subscription. Likewise, if you are part of the Windows Insider Program and are upgrading your genuine Windows 7 or 8.1 to the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build, you will use the digital license activation method as well. If you are upgrading to Windows 10 from a genuine copy of Windows 7 or 8.1 or purchased Windows 10 in the Windows store, you will be able to use the digital license activation method. The type of activation your operating system will use depends on where you got your copy of Windows 10. This digital license allows you to skip entering the product key, the activation happens automatically in many cases. This is not the 25- character product key you are used to seeing.

Windows 10 has a new activation method called digital license. How is Windows 10 Digital License Activated? Have a look at this quick guide to Windows 10. It replaces the need to enter a product key in certain situations which we will discuss later in this post. This digital license was previously called digital entitlement. This process is the same regardless of if you download an upgraded file or use an ISO file to start the upgrade. Note that the license is linked to the computer, not to the user, so you do not need a Microsoft account. If the installation was activated properly, the Setup Program will reach out to the Microsoft activation server in order to generate a license that is linked to that new Windows hardware. How does Windows 10 Digital License Work?Īnytime you need to upgrade to a new version of Windows (assuming you already had an activated copy of Windows previously) the Setup Program looks up the current activation status. We'll explain everything you need to know about a Windows 10 digital license. If you have Windows 7 and are thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, read on. As of September 2017, Windows runs an impressive 87.6% of the world's computer systems.

Windows 10 digital key