It is a known fact that Windows 11 is a free upgrade to eligible Windows 10 users. Windows 10 PCs that meet the minimum hardware requirements set for Windows 11 can upgrade to Windows 11 for free.
Some users who have been looking to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 are asking if a product key is required or if a product key needs to be entered while upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Do I need a product key to upgrade to Windows 11?
The answer is no. Users upgraded from an activated copy of Windows 10 do not need a product key to upgrade to Windows 11. While upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11, you will not be asked to type the 25-digit product key.
Your Windows 10 license will be automatically transferred to Windows 11, and your Windows 11 copy will be automatically activated in the background. Therefore, you do not need to do anything to activate Windows 11 after upgrading from Windows 10. However, if you want, you can check the Windows 11 activation status to make sure that your copy is activated.
So, it’s a good idea to make sure that your Windows 10 copy is activated before 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. This will ensure that you will not encounter any activation issues after upgrading to Windows 11. After successfully activating Windows 11, you can revert to a local account if you want.
Do I need to enter the product key after upgrading to Windows 11?
Again, the answer is no. When you upgrade from an activated Windows 10 installation to Windows 11, the new Windows 11 installation will automatically activate. So, you will not need to enter the product key even after upgrading to Windows 11.
However, if Windows 11 fails to get activated automatically for some reason, you can enter the product key (if you have one) to activate your copy.