Alex Ruben
How To Identify If Your Windows 10/11 License Is Retail, OEM, or Volume
Figuring out what kind of Windows license you’ve got isn’t common knowledge, but it’s pretty important if you’re planning to move stuff around or upgrade hardware without losing activation. Retail licenses are usually flexible, OEMs are locked to the original hardware, and volume licenses are for business setups. Instead of digging through old receipts or confusing Microsoft accounts, this quick guide shows how to get that info straight from Windows using just Command Prompt. It’s surprisingly simple, and it saves some headaches later on, especially if you’re stuff is acting weird with activation.
Prerequisites
Before diving in, just make sure:
- You’re running Windows 10 or 11, obviously.
- You have admin rights on this machine (not just a standard user).
- No third-party tools needed — everything inside Windows already does the trick.
How to Check Your Windows License Type: Retail, OEM, or Volume
Open Command Prompt as an Administrator
You need elevated privileges here, so don’t just open Command Prompt normally. It’s like asking for permission to look under the hood.
- Click the Search icon (that magnifying glass on the taskbar).
- Type
cmd. - Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
If on some setups the prompt refuses, double-check your user account permissions—sometimes, you need to be logged into an admin account for this to work. Once the window is up, you’re golden.
Run the Command to Get License Info
This is the quick part that actually tells you what kind of license you’re holding. Just copy-paste this command and see what pops up:
slmgr /dliHit Enter. After a second or two, a dialog box will appear with details on your license. Not sure why it works, but on one machine, this pops up almost instantly, and on another, it’s a little slower. Don’t worry about that.
Decipher the License Type
What it shows can be a little cryptic if you’re new, but the main thing is to look for these keywords:
- Retail License: Usually transferrable, license stays good after hardware changes, good for upgrading PCs or replacing parts.
- OEM License: Tied tightly to the original hardware, can’t move it—if you upgrade motherboard or CPU, activation might get weird.
- Volume License: For companies, often KMS or MAK keys, can activate multiple PCs, and is less flexible for normal users.
Sometimes, it just shows a string of numbers or says “OEM” somewhere. It’s not perfect, but you get the idea.
Extra Tips & Common Problems
- If the command window doesn’t show anything or says you don’t have permission, double-check you launched Command Prompt as Admin. No excuses here.
- If you want even more details—like when your license expires or further info—try this command too:
slmgr /xpr. Trusted, and kind of useful if activation is acting weird. - Be aware: sometimes, especially after big Windows updates or hardware changes, activation info might glitch out temporarily. A reboot or re-activation attempt can fix that.
Wrap-up
Getting this info isn’t exactly a secret, but it’s buried in menus that not everyone checks. Knowing whether your license is retail or OEM saves a lot of guesswork, especially if you start swapping hardware or thinking about upgrades. It’s kind of weird, but this little command line trick does the job consistently.
Summary
- Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Run
slmgr /dli. - Read the license type info in the window that pops up.
Final thoughts
This method works on pretty much every modern Windows install, and it beats poking around in the registry or trying to decode product keys. Of course, Windows has to make it harder than necessary sometimes, but this cheat keeps it simple. Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone who’s been scratching their head over license types. Just something that worked for me — hope it helps.