The Home edition of Windows 10 goes for $139, while the Pro edition sets you back by $199. Because a new Windows 10 license is not exactly cheap, it makes sense to transfer your Windows 10 license to your new computer when ditching or selling off your old computer.
Luckily, transferring a Windows 10 license from one computer to another is not difficult.
If you want to transfer your Windows 10 license from an old to a new computer, all you need to do is deactivate or uninstall Windows 10 license on your old computer and then activate Windows 10 on your new PC.
Can I transfer my Windows 10 license to a new computer?
Your Windows 10 license type will tell if you can transfer your Windows 10 license key to another computer or from old to new computer. That is, Microsoft allows transferring only retail Windows 10 license from one device to another device. OEM and volume licenses cannot be transferred.
How to check if your Windows 10 license type is retail?
As said earlier, a retail license only can be transferred from one computer to another computer. So, making sure that your Windows 10 license type is retail is essential before doing anything else. Here is how to check:
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt by typing CMD in the Start/taskbar/run box and then hitting the Enter key.
Step 2: At the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press the Enter key.
slmgr –dli
Pressing the Enter key will open the Windows Script Host dialog, which includes details about the type of your Windows 10 license. If your Windows 10 license key is retail, you will see “RETAIL” in the Description field. The dialog also displays the partial version of your Windows 10 license key.
Keep your Windows 10 product key handy
In order to transfer your Windows 10 license key, you need your 25-character Windows 10 license key. The key can be found on the Windows 10 retail box or the email that you received soon after purchasing your Windows 10 license.
Of course, there are tools out there to retrieve or recover your Windows 10 product key from your existing Windows 10 installation, but they are not accurate all the time. So, we suggest you make sure that your Windows 10 product key is correct (use the one found on the box or email) before deactivating Windows 10 on the old computer.
Transferring Windows 10 license from old to a new computer
If your Windows 10 license type is retail, you first need to deactivate Windows 10 license on the old computer. Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt as administrator. Type CMD in the Start/taskbar search field, right-click on the Command Prompt entry, and then click Run as administrator option.
Click the Yes button when you get the User Account Control dialog.
Step 2: At the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter key to deactivate Windows 10 on your current computer.
slmgr.vbs /upk
You will get the “Uninstalled product key successfully” message once you hit the Enter key. This should deactivate your Windows 10 license on the current computer.
Step 3: Now that you have uninstalled your Windows 10 license on the current computer, it’s best to clear the product key from the registry as well. To do that, type the following command and then hit the Enter key.
slmgr.vbs /cpky
Upon pressing the Enter key, you will get the “Product key from registry cleared successfully” message.
Step 4: Reboot your computer and make sure that your computer is connected to the internet. To check the activation status of your Windows 10 license on the current computer, navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Activation page.
Step 5: Now that you have deactivated Windows 10 license on the old computer, it’s time to activate Windows 10 on the new computer. On the new computer running Windows 10, navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Activation page, click Change product key link.
NOTE 1: Make sure that your new computer is running the same edition of Windows 10 installed on the old computer. That is, for instance, if your old computer is running Windows 10 Home edition, your new computer must also be running Windows 10 Home edition to activate your copy of Windows 10 license using the same key.
NOTE 2: If you have not installed Windows 10 yet, download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft, create a bootable media, and then install it. During the installation, when you are asked to enter the product key, type the same.
Step 6: Type the 25-character product key and then click the Next button to connect to Microsoft activation servers and activate your copy of Windows 10.
If you have any trouble, run the activation troubleshooter or contact the Microsoft support team using the Get Help app in Windows 10.