Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter

Many PC users who upgraded to Windows 10 have encountered activation issues. Although Windows 10 gets activated automatically upon upgrading from previous versions of the Windows operating system using the free upgrade offer, the license gets deactivated after performing a clean install of Windows 10 or hardware changes.

Activation Troubleshooter to fix activation issues after hardware changes

Before this, users had to contact the Microsoft support team using the built-in Contact support app to troubleshoot and fix Windows 10 activation problems. PC users running Windows 10 Anniversary Update builds (stable build coming in July or August) can now address most of the common activation issues using the new activation troubleshooter built-in to Windows 10 Anniversary Update builds.

According to this blog post by Microsoft, the new activation troubleshooter will help you fix common activation issues on Genuine Windows devices caused by hardware changes. In simple words, if your Windows 10 is not activated after changing the hard drive, SSD, or motherboard, you can use the built-in activation troubleshooter to address the issue and get your copy of Windows 10 activated without having to contact the support team.

In addition to that, the troubleshooter can be used if you accidentally installed Windows 10 Home edition on a PC where you had activated your copy of Windows 10 Pro previously. In that case, the activation troubleshooter will guide you to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and activate your copy of Windows 10.

Since there is no way out there to backup Windows 10 activation, the troubleshooter will come in handy for users who plan to change Windows 10 PC’s hardware.

IMPORTANT: The Windows 10 activation troubleshooter is available in Windows 10 build 14371 or later only. So if you plan to change your PC hardware, we advise you to change the hardware only after upgrading to Windows 10 anniversary Update stable build, which is expected to be released in a few weeks.

Using the activation troubleshooter in Windows 10

Step 1: Open Settings app either by clicking its icon in the Start menu or simultaneously pressing the Windows logo and I key.

Step 2: Once the Settings app is launched, click the Update & security icon.

Step 3: Click Activation. Under, Activate Windows section, click the link named Troubleshoot to launch Windows 10 activation troubleshooter.

Important: The Windows 10 Activation troubleshooter link will only appear if your Windows 10 installation is not activated.

Step 4: The troubleshooter will try to detect activation problems and will fix the issue in a few seconds.

Note that the activation troubleshooter might not fix all activation problems or errors. The Windows 10 activation troubleshooter is meant to fix activation issues caused after changing PC’s hardware.

If the activation troubleshooter fails to fix the issue, you can contact the support team using the built-in Contact support app. Using the app, either have a chat with the Microsoft support team or schedule a callback.