Categories: Windows 11 & Windows 10Windows Server

SOLVED: How To Activate Windows 10 / Server 2016 Through Command Line

UPDATE: July 2023 – If this does not work for you, you may find this updated article more useful: How To Easily Convert Windows Server Evaluation To Standard / Datacenter

If you are having problems activating Windows 10, Server 2016, Windows 8, or Server 2012 one of these three solutions below should get you through:

Command Line to Launch Activation GUI:

This is handy if the GUI won’t start and you want to skip some steps to get it to work.

  1. click START (gets you to the tiles)
  2. type RUN
  3. type slui 3 and press ENTER
    1. yes, SLUI: which stands for SOFTWARE LICENSING USER INTERFACE
      1. SLUI 1 brings up the activation status window
      2. SLUI 2 brings up the activation window
      3. SLUI 3 brings up the CHANGE PRODUCT KEY window
      4. SLUI 4 brings up the CALL MICROSOFT & MANUALLY ACTIVATE window
  4. Type in your product key
  5. Have a nice day.

Command Line to Activate Windows Through Command Line:

  1. Launch a CMD as an Administrator
  2. Type: slmgr.vbs /ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
  3. Press Enter

If your key is valid and you are connected to the internet, it should activate within a second or two.

Call Microsoft Activation Center:

In Canada and the US, call the support line directly at 1 800-936-4900, otherwise, use this table of Microsoft Activation Phone Numbers to do the deed.

You also might find some of our previous posts on activation problems to be helpful:  urtech.ca/?s=activation

View Comments

  • Pour une clé d’activation originale, je vous suggère le site "licence-activation"
    J’en ai utilisé une clé de chez eux et ça marche parfaitement bien.
    Ils répondent assez rapidement, et peuvent aussi vous assister par Teamviewer en cas de problème.
    Je le recommande fortement.

    • TRANSLATION: For an original activation key, I suggest the 'license activation' site. I used a key from them and it works perfectly well. They respond pretty quickly, and can also assist you by Teamviewer if problem. I highly recommend it.

  • I believe this is the command you're looking for.

    dism /online /set-edition:ServerStandard /productkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /accepteula

    Or if you installed Standard edition and you want to change it to datacenter

    dism /online /set-edition:ServerDatacenter /productkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /accepteula

    or you can also see what upgrades are available
    dism /online /Get-TargetEditions

  • Server 2016 Datacenter gui would not allow product key change. The command line activation works fine.

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Published by
Ian Matthews
Tags: command line to activate windowsmicrosoft activationmicrosoft activation phoneServer 2012Server 2016Windows 10
8 years ago

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