Fortunately, Microsoft does allow this, even for people who took advantage of the “free upgrade” from Windows 7 or 8 and got Windows 10. There are some limitations, however, so before we get into how you would transfer the license, let’s talk about those, and see what issues you might run into.
Differentiating the license types
For people who upgraded an OEM or retail version, Windows 10 carries over the same type of licensing. If you upgrade from an OEM version, Windows 10 will also have the rights of an OEM version, and the same applies for retail, too – upgrading from a retail version carries over retail rights. With the full retail version, you have transfer rights to another computer, and you don’t require a previous qualifying version of Windows. The upgrade retail version is cheaper but requires that you have a previous, qualifying version of Windows installed. Note that a full retail version lets you transfer it as many times as you want, while an upgrade retail version is entitled to only a one-time transfer. With an OEM license, there are a few differences from the full retail version. To begin with, you don’t have any free Microsoft direct support. The license is tied to the first computer you install it and activate it on, and you can’t use an OEM version if you want to directly upgrade from an older version of Windows. Last but not least, you could upgrade all your hardware, except for a different model motherboard. If you do change the motherboard, this invalidates the upgrade license, since it doesn’t have a base qualifying license anymore.
So, how would you go about transferring the license?
There are two ways to go about this. One of them is to remove the license from your computer and then transfer it to the new one. The second one is to tie it to your Microsoft account, instead of the hardware on your computer. Which one you go for is completely up to you, but we’ll take a look at both below.
Method 1: Remove the license from your system, and re-activate it on the new one
In order to move your license, you can’t have it in use on another system. Since Windows 10 doesn’t have a deactivation option, you’re stuck with either uninstalling the product key or formatting your computer. Uninstalling the key is as close to deactivating as you’ll get. It doesn’t tell Microsoft’s activation servers that the license is no longer in use, but in case they do check later down the road, they won’t find it in use on more than one system. Formatting will ensure that the license isn’t in use on the computer, and you could use Microsoft’s Reset option that’s built-in Windows 10. The steps below apply if you want to uninstall the key.
Method 2: Associate your license with your account instead of the hardware
This method comes from Microsoft themselves and is what they advise you do if you’ll be making significant hardware changes. Since the license is tied to your hardware, changing it will make it invalid. But if you tie it to your account, you can use it again by signing in with the same account afterward. The steps to be followed are the ones below.
What to do if this doesn’t work?
There are a few reasons why this might not work. For example, you could be choosing a different edition of Windows than what’s linked to your digital account, or the type of device might not match. You might have reached the limit regarding how many times you can reactivate Windows 10. We mentioned all of these things earlier, so you might want to go back and check them, as this might be a potential issue. Solve them, and you should be up and running again.
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