I would like to transfer my windows 11 professional license from old laptop to new laptop

Question

Hi

I upgraded my old laptop from OEM Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 professional by retail purchase. And it got upgraded with digital license. There is no key to it.

Now, I bought a new laptop and would like to transfer that Windows 11 Professional license from old laptop to new laptop.

And I seek help to do this.

Answer 1

To transfer your Windows 11 Professional license from your old laptop to your new laptop, you will need to follow these steps:

1. Deactivate the License on the Old Laptop: Since your Windows 11 Professional is activated with a digital license, you can deactivate it by uninstalling the license. You can do this by opening Command Prompt as an administrator and running the command:

      slmgr.vbs /upk
   

   This command will uninstall the product key from your old laptop.
2. Install Windows 11 Professional on the New Laptop: Ensure that your new laptop is running a compatible version of Windows. You may need to install Windows 11 Professional if it is not already installed.
3. Activate Windows on the New Laptop: Once Windows 11 Professional is installed on your new laptop, you can activate it using the same Microsoft account that was used on the old laptop. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Activation and sign in with your Microsoft account. Windows should recognize the digital license and activate automatically.

If you encounter any issues during activation, you may need to contact Microsoft Support for assistance.

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References:

• Windows edition upgrade
• Windows Commercial Licensing overview

Answer 2

If you purchased the Home to Pro upgrade directly from Microsoft, that licence is associated to your Microsoft account online, try using this method with the generic Pro product key to upgrade from Home to Pro, your Pro upgrade licence should then activate after a restart.

Important - disconnect totally from the Internet

Open the Settings App (Gear icon on your Start Menu)

Go to Update and Security - Activation

Click Change Product key

Enter this generic product key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

When prompted, click 'Activate Product'

If the above does not work first time, restart your PC and try again.

Note the generic key will cause the Home edition to upgrade to the Pro edition, then your own legal licence will activate automatically after you restart (not shut down) your PC