How to Check if Windows Is Genuine (and What to Do if It Isn’t)

Most people never think about this until something goes wrong: a watermark appears, personalisation settings grey out, or an activation that worked fine for eight months suddenly does not. Then the question becomes urgent and difficult to answer, because “it says activated” turns out not to mean what people assume.

This guide shows you how to check properly, what the results mean, and what your options are if the answer is not the one you wanted.

Where we are coming from: Software Kings sells Windows licences, so we have a plain commercial interest in you discovering that yours is not genuine. We have tried to counter that by making the checks verifiable yourself, and by being specific about what the cheap key market actually looks like, including the parts of it that are not us.

Why it matters, without the scare tactics

Being realistic about the consequences, because they are often overstated in one direction and understated in another.

What usually does not happen: Microsoft does not remotely disable your computer, delete your files or report you to anyone. Non-genuine Windows mostly keeps working.

What actually happens:

• A watermark appears in the bottom right corner, and it is on top of everything including full screen applications.
• Personalisation is disabled. You cannot change wallpaper, accent colours, themes or lock screen from Settings.
• Persistent notifications asking you to activate.
• Updates become unreliable. This is the one that matters most and gets the least attention. Bypassed installs frequently end up with updates failing or deliberately blocked, which means security patches stop arriving.
• Repair tools fight the activation. Bypasses work by modifying system files, and the standard repair commands are built to detect and reverse modifications to system files. So the normal fix for an unrelated problem either fails or breaks the activation.
• For a business, it is a compliance problem rather than an inconvenience, and it surfaces during audits at the worst possible time.

Check 1: The activation screen

Start here, but treat it as a first pass rather than a verdict.

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Go to System, then Activation.
3. Read the status line and expand the section for detail.

What the wording means:

• “Windows is activated with a digital licence” means the activation is tied to your hardware, and if your Microsoft account is linked, to that account too. This is the healthiest result.
• “Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account” is better still, because reactivation after a hardware change is straightforward.
• “Windows is activated” with no further detail is worth investigating with the commands below.
• “Windows is not activated” is unambiguous.

Check 2: Permanent or expiring?

This is the single most revealing test and it takes five seconds.

1. Press Windows + R.
2. Type slmgr /xpr and press Enter.
3. A small dialog appears after a moment.

What it says	What it means
The machine is permanently activated	A normal consumer licence. This is what you want.
Volume activation will expire on a date	Activated against a server, and it needs renewing. Not a consumer licence.
Windows is in notification mode	Not activated, or the activation has lapsed.

Check 3: Which licence channel do you have?

This tells you what kind of licence is actually installed, which is often not what was advertised.

1. Press Windows + R.
2. Type slmgr /dli and press Enter.
3. Read the Description line in the dialog that appears.

The description names the channel:

• RETAIL channel: a full retail licence. Transferable to another machine.
• OEM_DM channel: an OEM licence, tied to the motherboard it was first activated on. Normal for pre-built PCs.
• VOLUME_KMSCLIENT or similar: a volume licensing channel. Designed for organisations with their own activation infrastructure, and not what a home user should have bought.

The same dialog shows the last five characters of the installed key, which is useful for confirming that the key actually applied is the one you paid for.

For a fuller explanation of how digital licences differ from product keys and how activation attaches to hardware, our guide on Windows 11 product keys and digital licences covers the mechanics.

Check 4: The visible symptoms

If you cannot run the commands, the interface itself tells you a lot:

• An activation watermark in the bottom right corner. If you are trying to remove one, our guide on removing the Activate Windows watermark covers the legitimate approaches and why the registry tricks are a bad idea.
• Greyed out personalisation. Open Settings, Personalisation. If wallpaper and colour options are disabled, Windows is not activated.
• Repeated activation errors with codes such as 0xC004C060 or 0xC004C003, which typically indicate a key that has been blocked or used on too many machines.
• Activation that lapsed on its own after months of working. This is the classic signature of a volume or server based activation rather than a genuine consumer licence.

Check 5: Where the key came from

Some questions do not need a command to answer:

• Did you run a tool to activate it? Then it is a bypass, not a licence, regardless of what the activation screen says. We looked at the wider risk picture in our analysis of Massgrave and similar activation tools, including the malware distributed through them.
• Did the seller give you an invoice stating the licence type?
• Did it come with the PC? Pre-built machines from established manufacturers ship with a firmware embedded OEM licence, which is genuine and reactivates automatically on that machine.
• Did someone else build or configure the machine? Second hand PCs and machines set up by a local shop are a common source of surprises, because the activation method is invisible until it lapses.

Being honest about the cheap key market

We sell inexpensive Windows keys, so this section is awkward for us to write and we think it is worth writing anyway.

The market for cheap Windows licences contains genuinely different things sold at similar prices, and the advertising rarely distinguishes between them:

What you might get	How it behaves
A genuine Retail key	Permanent activation, Retail channel, transferable
A genuine OEM key	Permanent activation, tied to that motherboard
A volume key sold as retail	Shows an expiry date, lapses when the server goes
A reused or overused key	Works briefly, then fails with a blocked key error
A bypass tool dressed up as a licence	No key at all, modified system files, updates break

The practical defence is the same whoever you buy from, including us: run slmgr /xpr and slmgr /dli straight after activating. If it reports permanent activation on a Retail or OEM channel, you got what you paid for. If it shows an expiry date, you did not, and that is the moment to ask for a refund rather than six months later.

Two other things worth checking before buying anywhere: whether the product page states the licence type explicitly rather than just saying “genuine”, and whether there is a refund policy you could actually use. A seller who will not tell you whether a key is Retail or OEM is telling you something.

What to do if yours is not genuine

If it came with the PC and shows problems, it may just need reactivating rather than replacing. Run the activation troubleshooter in Settings, System, Activation, and check whether your Microsoft account is linked. Our guide on fixing Windows 11 activation errors covers the specific codes.

If you were sold a volume key, contact the seller and ask for a refund, citing the expiry date the command reports. That is verifiable evidence rather than an opinion.

If it was activated with a bypass tool, you do not need to reinstall Windows. Buying and entering a genuine key activates the existing installation in place. Enter it under Settings, System, Activation, Change product key. It is worth running SFC and DISM afterwards to repair any system files the tool modified, which is also what restores normal updating.

If you are buying a licence, these are the options:

Licence	Price	Channel and behaviour
Windows 11 Pro (Retail)	$15.00	Retail, permanent, transferable to another PC
Windows 11 Pro (OEM)	$10.00	OEM, permanent, tied to one motherboard
Windows 11 Home (OEM)	$10.00	OEM, permanent, everyday home use
Windows 10 Pro (Retail)	$15.00	Retail, for hardware that cannot run Windows 11

Our OEM versus Retail comparison explains which one fits your situation, and you can browse the full Windows catalogue to compare editions. Whichever you choose, and wherever you buy it, run the two commands afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if Windows is genuine?

Open Settings, System, Activation for the status, then run slmgr /xpr from the Run dialog to see whether activation is permanent or expiring, and slmgr /dli to see the licence channel. A genuine consumer licence reports permanent activation on a Retail or OEM channel.

What does slmgr /xpr tell me?

Whether your activation is permanent or has an expiry date. Permanent activation is what a normal consumer licence gives you. An expiry date means volume or server based activation, which will lapse when that server is no longer reachable.

What does it mean if my activation shows an expiry date?

You are on a volume activation rather than a consumer licence. It works until the activation server stops responding or is blocked, at which point Windows drops back to unactivated. This is why some cheap keys work for months and then fail.

Is my Windows genuine if it says “Windows is activated”?

Not necessarily. That message confirms Windows is currently activated, not how or with what kind of licence. Run slmgr /xpr and slmgr /dli to see whether the activation is permanent and which channel it uses.

What happens if Windows is not genuine?

You get an activation watermark, personalisation settings are disabled, and you receive repeated prompts. More importantly, updates often become unreliable on bypassed installs, and system repair tools conflict with the modifications the bypass made.

Can Microsoft tell if my Windows is not genuine?

Windows checks its own activation status against Microsoft’s servers, which is how the watermark and prompts appear. What does not happen is remote disabling of your PC or deletion of files. The practical consequences are the limitations and the update problems.

Do I have to reinstall Windows to make it genuine?

No. Buying a genuine key and entering it under Settings, System, Activation, Change product key activates your existing installation in place. If it was previously activated with a bypass tool, run SFC and DISM afterwards to repair the modified system files.

Are cheap Windows keys genuine?

Some are and some are not, and the price alone does not tell you which. Genuine Retail and OEM keys are legitimately available below Microsoft’s own pricing. What you want to avoid are volume keys sold as consumer licences, which report an expiry date, and bypass tools sold as licences. Verify with slmgr after activating.

How do I know if a seller gave me a volume key?

Run slmgr /dli and read the Description line. If it names a volume channel, or slmgr /xpr reports an expiry date, you were not sold a consumer licence. Both outputs are concrete evidence you can use when requesting a refund.

Does a non-genuine Windows stop receiving security updates?

Often, yes. Unactivated and bypassed installs frequently end up with updates failing or deliberately disabled, which means security patches stop arriving. That is the most substantial practical risk, well ahead of the watermark and the disabled personalisation settings.

In short

Two commands answer the question properly. slmgr /xpr tells you whether your activation is permanent or ticking down, and slmgr /dli tells you which licence channel you are actually on. Permanent plus Retail or OEM is what a genuine consumer licence looks like.

Run them now rather than after a watermark appears, and run them again immediately after activating any key you buy from anyone. It takes ten seconds and it is the difference between knowing what you have and assuming.