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To check whether your Windows 11 digital license is linked to your Microsoft account, open Settings > System > Activation and read the activation message. The wording on that page tells you whether Windows is activated and whether the license is linked.
Check the license link status in Windows 11
- Open Start > Settings > System > Activation.
- Read the message under Activation state. Microsoft’s Activate Windows guidance identifies the wording that indicates whether the license is linked.
| Activation message | What it means |
|---|---|
| “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.” | Windows is activated, and its digital license is linked to the Microsoft account. |
| “Windows is activated with a digital license.” | Windows is activated, but the digital license is not linked to a Microsoft account. |
What to do if the license is not linked
If the Activation page says Windows is activated with a digital license but does not mention your Microsoft account, first check whether you are signed in with an administrator account and whether that Windows session uses a Microsoft account.
Check the account type and administrator status
- Open Settings > Accounts > Your info.
- Look above “Administrator.” If an email address appears there, you are signed in with a Microsoft account. If no email address appears, you are using a local account.
Microsoft’s account-linking instructions require an administrator account using a Microsoft account.
Link the Microsoft account
- Return to Settings > System > Activation.
- Select Add an account.
- Enter the Microsoft account credentials associated with the account you want to use, then sign in.
- Check the Activation page again. It should display “Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account.”
Why linking matters after a hardware change
Linking the digital license to your Microsoft account can help you use the Activation troubleshooter to reactivate Windows after a significant hardware change. If you need to reactivate, you must use the Microsoft account associated with the license and install the same Windows edition as the license. Linking is not a guarantee that every hardware change or licensing issue will reactivate automatically. See Microsoft’s Reactivating Windows after a hardware change guidance.
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Activation does not prove Windows is genuine
The linked-license message reports activation and account-link status; it does not, by itself, establish that Windows is genuine. Microsoft distinguishes activation from validation in its activation guidance. If Windows instead reports that it is not activated, that is a separate issue from whether a license is linked; follow Microsoft’s activation troubleshooting guidance.
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Best Value
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- 256 GB SSD of storage.
- Multitasking is easy with 16GB of RAM
- Equipped with a blazing fast Core i5 2.00 GHz processor.
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