If you’re preparing to reinstall a Product Key Finder Programs or an operating system (like a clean install of Windows), you’ll need to find your unique product key or serial number before continuing.
10 Best Free Product Key Finder Programs in 2021
#1 RockXP
- Finds the product key for Windows Vista, XP, and older Windows versions
- Locates the MS Office key in some versions of the program
- The application is portable
- Also lets you change the Windows XP product key
- A password generator is included
- Can find user passwords for some accounts on the computer
- Supports only really old versions of Windows
- Hasn’t been updated in a very long time
- Your AV software might identify the program as malware
RockXP is another free program that retrieves lost product keys from the registry.
Advantages include small program size, no installation required, and additional features such as a password generator and password retriever.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows XP (officially) and also Windows Vista, Server 2003, 2000, ME, and 98.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2007 and Office 2003.
We tried running RockXP in Windows 10 and Windows 7 but none of the menus seemed to work, rendering the program useless, which means it probably works in Windows XP and Windows Vista only.
#2 SterJo Key Finder
- Shows product keys for MS Office and hundreds of other software programs
- Finds keys for Windows 10 and other versions of Windows
- Results are easy to understand
- Lets you search through the product key results
- Free for personal and business use
- The product key list can become overwhelming if all you need is the key for Windows
- Sometimes shows more than one product key for the same software
- Setup might try to install another program along with the key finder
SterJo Key Finder is another key finder that finds product keys for over 500 games and software on either the local Windows install (your computer) or a remote one.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2003.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 2007, Office 2003, Office XP, Microsoft Money, Microsoft Works, and lots of other Microsoft and non-Microsoft programs like Adobe, Autodesk, Cyberlink, and others.
SterJo Key Finder is a great way to find product keys because the program is easy to read, you can search through the results, and it supports a huge number of products.
SterJo Key Finder found two different product keys for one of the programs in our test, which makes it hard to recommend above some of the other programs from this list.
#3 MSKeyViewer Plus
- Locates keys for dozens of software programs
- Finds the Windows 7 key and keys for older Windows versions
- Supports some MS Office programs
- It doesn’t need to be installed
- Includes other Windows information like the service pack level
- Keys can be copied to the clipboard
- Windows 10 and Windows 8 keys found by this program are most likely incorrect
- Hasn’t been updated in a long time
- Advanced features are hard to access
MSKeyViewer Plus is another good product key finder program.
Major advantages include a really small size, no install needed, and super easy interface. MSKeyViewer Plus instantly displays product keys–no scanning of your registry required.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 95/98, and Windows Server 2008 & 2003. 64-bit versions are also supported.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 2007, Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000, Windows Server 2012 & 2008, plus a long list of other Microsoft and non-Microsoft programs.
Although the other Windows 8 compatible programs from this list were able to find the product key for our test installation, MSKeyViewer Plus wasn’t able to do so.
We’d probably pick several other key finders before MSKeyViewer Plus, but if you’re having trouble finding a specific key, give MSKeyViewer a try.
MSKeyViewer Plus may find a key for your Windows 10 installation, but it’s probably going to be incorrect just as ours was.
#4 Free PC Audit
- Scans for keys automatically
- Doesn’t require installation
- Shows keys for Windows 10 and other newer (and older) Windows OSs
- Identifies Microsoft Office product keys
- Shows product keys for a few non-Microsoft programs
- Includes a wealth of hardware information
- Can seem cluttered if you’re not interested in all the other results
- The initial auto-scan might take a while to complete
- You can’t export just the product key information to a file
Our Review of Free PC Audit
Free PC Audit is a system information tool that shows not only hardware information but also product keys for several Windows and Microsoft Office installs.
It’s very small, completely portable, scans automatically, and lets you easily copy out product keys.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and probably older versions as well.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2013, Office 2010, 2007, Office 2003, and likely some older versions, as well as some Adobe and Corel software.
Because there’s so much other information shown in Free PC Audit, it can seem very cluttered if you’re using it just for finding product keys.
#5 Windows Product Key Viewer
- Supports recent and old versions of Windows
- Results are clear and easy to read
- Shows additional information beyond the product key
- No need to install the program (it’s portable)
- The key can be copied to the clipboard
- When printing or exporting, you can’t save just the product key; all the other information is included as well
Our Review of Windows Product Key Viewer
Windows Product Key Viewer is another key finder program that shows the product key for several versions of Windows.
You can easily copy the product key out of the program, print the keys, or save them to a file. Additional details are shown as well, such as the product ID, install date, and build number.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 98, Windows 95, and Windows Server 2008/2003
Because of Windows Product Key Viewer’s small size and portability, it’s a great product key finder to store on a flash drive.
#6 Lazesoft Windows Key Finder
- Finds the Windows 10 key and keys for other newer and older Windows OSs
- Locates Microsoft Office keys
- Very portable (small download size and no installation necessary)
- The program interface is extremely easy to use
- The key can be saved to a file or the clipboard
- Some MS Office keys can’t be found even though they’re listed as being supported
- Doesn’t show keys for non-Microsoft programs
Lazesoft Windows Key Finder is another free program that can find the product key for many Windows installs and Microsoft Office versions.
The program is small, completely portable, and simple to read. You can print or save the product keys to a file.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2016, 2013, Office 2010, Office 2007, Office 2003, and Office 2000.
Though Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 is supported, we were unable to use Lazesoft Windows Key Finder to locate those keys in Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7.
#7 Wise Windows Key Finder
- Works instantly.
- Completely portable.
- Extremely easy to use.
- Finds Windows and Office keys.
- Isn’t as comprehensive as some key finders.
Wise Windows Key Finder is one of the most basic Windows key finder tools, but it works just as advertised. It’s so simple of a tool that if any of these other key finder software programs were too hard to use, this one is what you should try next.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, and Windows Server 2003.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office: 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, XP, 2000, and 97.
This program doesn’t need to be installed, so the moment you open it, the supported keys are shown. You can copy individual keys out of the program or export them all to a TXT file.
#8 Product Key Informer
- Finds product keys for some versions of Windows and MS Office
- The keys are easy to read
- Lets you save the keys to the clipboard
- Able to search the network for product keys on other computers
- Entirely portable (no installation necessary)
- Supports older software only
- Doesn’t let you back up the product keys to a file
Product Key Informer is another free product key finder program but it finds product keys for only a few Microsoft programs other than the operating system.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows 98.
Finds Keys for Other Software: Microsoft Office 2007, Office 2003, and Office XP.
We didn’t care much for Product Key Informer. The baked-in fields for specific product keys seemed a waste of screen real estate and confirms that the program’s product key-finding abilities are limited.
Windows 10 and Windows 8 are not supported.
#9 Game Key Revealer
- Finds the keys for a huge variety of video games
- Lets you export the product keys to a file
- The application is 100 percent portable
- Supports changing the key for some games
- Doesn’t show product keys for any other kinds of software
- Hasn’t been updated since 2014, so it might not support newer games
Game Key Revealer shows the product keys of over 2000 games.
It’s completely portable, takes up very little space, and can export keys to a text file or print them off.
Finds Keys for Games: Half-Life, Battlefield 2, Counter-Strike, Mirror’s Edge, Halo, Need for Speed, Dead Space, Crysis, Harry Potter, and many more.
In addition to showing the product keys for a few thousand games, keys for nearly two dozen can actually be changed with Game Key Revealer, which could come in handy.
#10 Abelssoft’s MyKeyFinder
- Works in Windows 10 and older Windows versions
- Shows keys for MS Office programs and some non-Microsoft applications
- Multiple ways to save the keys
- You can find keys quickly by searching through the results
- Might show keys for programs that don’t use product keys
- Not all features are free; you have to pay to enable them
- Asks you to donate each time you close the software
MyKeyFinder lets you save product keys to a PDF file or to the clipboard. You can also send one or more keys to a printer.
You can search through the list of install keys it finds and even add registry keys to a blocklist to avoid finding serials in those locations.
Finds Keys for Operating Systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.
Finds Keys for Other Software: VMware, some Microsoft Office products, and others.
While testing MyKeyFinder, we found that a scan takes a little longer to complete than any of the other programs from this list. Also, it found keys for programs (dozens of them) that don’t actually use serials, as well a key for Microsoft Office 2013 that wasn’t correct.
Important Information on Windows Product Keys
Many computers that were purchased with Windows 10 or 8 preinstalled from the manufacturer wont have a product sticker with a license key printed on it, nor will you have a key in your documentation.
However, it is possible to retrieve the Windows OEM license key unique to the PC from the BIOS using an offline license recovery tool. A few we like include Lazesof’s tool, as well as NeoSmart’s OemKey. On the other hand, if Windows 10/8 wasn’t installed at the time of purchase, even these tools won’t work.
If you’re reinstalling the same version and edition of Windows 10 or 8 back onto the computer after wiping it clean or replacing the hard drive, you likely do not need to find the product key at all. During installation, Windows will read the BIOS and successfully install without the need to enter a license key!
If your system was purchased with an older version of Windows installed and you have not reinstalled it or upgraded it yourself, a key finder may only find the generic product key that your PC manufacturer used to install Windows. This product key may not work when attempting to reinstall Windows. In this case, you must use the unique product key that is on the sticker attached to your computer case.
If you can’t locate your product key sticker you’ll need to request a new Windows product key.
Also Check:
Complete Microsoft Office 2016 Product Keys in 2021
