Windows 11 is a free upgrade to users running a recent version of Windows 10 on a computer that meets the minimum hardware requirements set by Microsoft.
After upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or after performing a clean install of Windows 11, the first thing you might want to do is check if your Windows 11 copy is activated.
Although Windows 11 will be activated automatically after upgrading or reinstalling, you might be curious to check the activation status just to make sure that there is no issue with the activation.
The procedure to check the activation status is slightly different. In Windows 10, we could navigate to Settings > Windows Update & Security > Activation page to check the activation status. However, the path is not the same in Windows 11.
Method 1 of 2
Check Windows 11 activation status via Settings
Step 1: Open the Settings app. On the left side, click on Settings and then click Activation on the right side.
Step 2: Now, on the right-side, if Windows 11 is activated, you will see the Active text next to Activation state. For more details about the activation status, click on the Activation state.
Method 2 of 2
Use Command Prompt to check if Windows 11 is activated
In addition to the Settings app, one can use the built-in Command Prompt tool to check the activation status. All you need to do is execute a command. Here is how to do it.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt using the Start menu search. No need to open the Command Prompt as administrator.
Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, type slmgr /xpr and then hit the Enter key. The following dialog will pop up and tell you about the activation status.
In earlier versions of the Windows operating system, in addition to these methods, we could also use the System Properties window to check the activation status. Sadly, it redirects to Settings > System > About page in Windows 11.
Windows 11 activation troubleshooting tips
If Windows 11 is not activated after upgrading from an activated copy of Windows 10, you have a couple of options.
Solution 1: Make sure that your PC is connected to the internet. If Windows 11 is not activated even after connecting your PC to the internet, give it some time.
Solution 2: If you have a license key, please enter the same after clicking the Change button next to the Change product key (Settings > System > Activation).
Solution 3: If you had previously linked your Windows 10 license to Microsoft account, sign in to Windows 11 with that Microsoft account to restore the license.
Solution 4: If everything fails, go back to Windows 10. Note that you have just ten days to downgrade to Windows 10 after upgrading to Windows 11. After the initial ten days, you will have to perform a clean install. So, make it fast!