Manufacturers burn a serial number into your PC's firmware at the factory, and Windows can read it directly with a one-line command — faster than hunting for a sticker on the bottom of a laptop, and useful when you need it for a warranty claim or a support ticket.
Before You Start
- Any Windows PC — no admin rights or extra software required for this one.
1.Open Command Prompt
Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter. Standard (non-admin) Command Prompt works fine for this.
2.Run the serial number query
Type: wmic bios get serialnumber and press Enter.
3.Read the result
The serial number appears on the line directly beneath "SerialNumber."
Some desktop and custom-built PCs will show "To be filled by O.E.M." instead of a real value — that's a limitation of how the motherboard manufacturer set the firmware up, not an error on your end.
4.Alternative: PowerShell
If wmic isn't available on your build of Windows (Microsoft has been phasing it out), open PowerShell instead and run: Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber.
