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My Activated and Genuine Windows 10 Suddenly Showing Not Activated

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Today I installed the latest cumulative update KB4462933 for Windows 10 version 1803 and restarted the computer to install and apply the update. After reboot I was shocked to see that my already activated Windows 10 became deactivated.

I was using a genuine and activated Windows 10 Professional version in my computer since long time and it was working absolutely fine. I have clean installed Windows 10 Pro many times (to fresh install Windows 10 new feature updates) in my machine using the same product key and never faced any activation issues.

Surprisingly Windows 10 started showing “Windows is not activated. Activate Windows now” message everywhere.

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First of all I noticed a new watermark on Desktop stating “Activate Windows. Go to Settings to activate Windows” as shown in following screenshot:

Activate_Windows_Watermark_Desktop_Windows_10.png

Then I realized that the watermark was not limited to Desktop. It was showing at the top of the screen and was displaying over all program screens. It was overlapping the text written on other program screens. Quite irritating in my opinion.

I opened Settings app and I was greeted with the same activation message “Windows isn’t activated. Activate Windows now.” at the bottom of Settings app as shown in following screenshot:

Windows_Isnt_Activated_Activate_Windows_Now.png

In fact all personalization options such as background, colors, lock screen, themes, fonts, start and taskbar were grayed out i.e. disabled. I was not able to change anything on those pages. All pages were showing “You need to activate Windows before you can personalize your PC. Activate Windows now.” message at the top as shown in following screenshot:

You_Need_Activate_Windows_Before_You_Can_Personalize_Windows_10.png

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I decided to check the activation status in my computer. I opened Settings app and navigated through Settings -> Update & Security -> Activation page. The page was showing following message:

Activation: Windows is not activated

We can’t activate Windows on this device as our activation servers aren’t available right now. Make sure you’re connected to the Internet and we’ll automatically try to activate Windows when the service becomes available. Error code: 0x80072EFD

If you’re having problems with activation, select Troubleshoot to try and fix the problem.

Windows_10_Activation_Settings_Page.png

I clicked on “Troubleshoot” link to troubleshoot the activation problem. The troubleshooter tool launched and started the troubleshooting process by showing “Detecting activation problems” message. After a few seconds, it showed following error message:

Troubleshooting has completed

We found a Windows 10 Home digital license for this device running Windows 10 Pro. To activate using this digital license, you need to install Windows 10 Home.

Learn more about Windows Activation

You can also activate this device by going to the Store and purchasing a genuine copy of Windows.

Go to Store

I changed hardware on this device recently

Windows_10_Activation_Troubleshooter_Tool.png

I was shocked after reading the error message. I installed a genuine copy of Windows 10 Pro in my machine, then why suddenly it became Windows 10 Home? I knew my Windows 10 copy was genuine. I didn’t change any hardware.

I clicked on the “Change product key” link given on Activation settings page. I entered the genuine Windows 10 Pro product key and Windows 10 showed following error message:

Unable to activate Windows

We can’t activate Windows on this device because you don’t have a valid digital license or product key. If you think you do have a valid license or key, select Troubleshoot below. (0x803fa067)

Learn more about Windows Activation

You can also activate this device by going to the Store and purchasing a genuine copy of Windows.

Go to Store

Unable_Activate_Windows_Change_Product_Key.png

So I was not able to activate my genuine Windows 10 Pro copy which was already activated and working fine in past.

I decided to activate Windows by phone but the Microsoft number was down and I couldn’t activate Windows over phone.

Finally I decided to contact Microsoft customer care and the chat person told me that it’s a known issue and Microsoft activation servers are having issues right now. Here is the information provided by the support:

Microsoft has just released an Emerging issue announcement about current activation issue related to Pro edition recently. This happens in Japan, Korea, America and many other countries. I am very sorry to inform you that there is a temporary issue with Microsoft’s activation server at the moment and some customers might experience this issue where Windows is displayed as not activated. Our engineers are working tirelessly to resolve this issue and it is expected to be corrected within one to two business days.

So it’s now clear that there is no problem in my computer or my Windows 10 Pro license key. Microsoft activation servers are down at the moment, that’s why Windows 10 users are facing activation issues.

If your genuine and activated Windows 10 also became not activated suddenly, don’t panic. Just ignore the activation message. You don’t need to do anything. Once Microsoft activation servers become available again, the error message will go away and your Windows 10 copy will be activated automatically.

UPDATE: The issue has been resolved by Microsoft. If your Windows 10 became not activated, it’ll be activated automatically over the next 24 hours or you can try to manually activate Windows using Troubleshoot option given on Activation Settings page. This time Troubleshooter tool will not throw any error message. It’ll activate Windows 10 successfully. I have activated my Windows 10 again using Troubleshoot option.

NOTE: In future, if your Windows operating system becomes not activated or suddenly shows that your Windows is not genuine, you should check out following tutorial to fix the issue:

[Fix] Windows is not Genuine Error Message, Make It Original and Activated Again

Published in: Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Comments

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  2. One would think once activated, the process would leave you alone instead of re-activating over and over. Just my 2 cents!

  4. Thank you for the information, I executed the troubleshooter and Windows was activated again.

    Regards,

    Jorge

  5. i am getting this problem now in April 2019, so what should i do now?
    is the issue resolved shortly or it will take time

  11. August 15 2019 -Same problem in Norway and it has been on and of at least the last 6 months !!!

  13. Same problem here in India, I’ve tried many times, but still remain same. this will take time or just a few minutes? Please reply if anyone know….

  14. Same issue in Sapin since Sept 2019. I was upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7 for free several years ago and it worked perfectly. Sincre last Sept, after a windows update, an activation is required.
    What should we do ?

  15. I upgraded from Home to Pro and my license got deactivated. Microsoft had installed Windows 10 Enterprise instead. I spent a long time following endless loops of instructions from Microsoft and other various websites before stumbling upon a list of generic Windows 10 RETAIL product keys. Copying and pasting the generic 10 Pro key instantly reverted my Windows version to Pro from Enterprise and activated it.

  16. hi..i recently bought a laptop with window 10 Home and tried to upgrade it to window 10 pro using the key i used in my desktop before. but i am unable to activate the windows..i am getting an error stating my key already in use in other device. i wiped out the hard disk of my laptop….please suggest solution to this. how can i activate my windows 10 pro using the same key

  18. Portugal 16 Feb 2020, issue after windows update. My OS pane says “Windows is activated” but i get the popup message saying not. 🙂

  19. 29 February 2020. This has been happening to me for a few weeks. Troubleshooter doesn’t help.
    This may just be a clever way to get everyone to buy their operating system again.

  20. Thank you for your post.

    I woke up two days ago (4 March 2020) and BOTH my PCs were demanding that I activate WIndows but nothing I did worked. This happened immediately after an update, as so MANY problems do. I tried to talk with Microsoft but got nowhere.

    I had just about decided to pay for another Windows program when I saw your post. Maybe I should be patient and wait.

    Sigh

  21. Thank you for this,
    I have had this issue for a week now. Today is March 24th, 2020. I have tried everything and have called and i’m still having issues. I’ve tried calling as well but that was a nightmare lol.

    I guess for now i’m just supposed to be patient?

  22. I have Windows 10 Home. I got this error about a week ago. I talked to several Microsoft support. They reactivated the product, but did not work. Then another agent asked me to talked to tech support, which did not go anywhere, except wasting time; may be you have to take the paid service.

    Finally, I searched through the internet and foundout restoring the Windows to previous date will do. So I restored the system to December 2019 today (April 2, 2020), and so far the watermark is gone. As a precaution I have stopped all the Windows updates.

    Good Luck

  23. i also have the same issue how i fix it please help even i didnt have any previous backup.

  24. Hi,

    Struggling with the same issue for the past week!!!

    Today, 7th June 2020

  25. Windows 10 upgrades for some reason do not detect the activation key used in the prior OS. Win10 works fine and then for whatever reason it nags about activation.
    Fix is to enter the key from the OEM sticker or on newer machines retrieve the key form the PC hardware using 3rd party app. If your PC came with Win7 Pro but you installed Win7 Enterprise, your only option was to upgrade to Win10 Ent but you’re not going to be able to activate it with OEM sticker license. In this case you can do a clean install of Win10 Pro or buy a Win10 Ent license.

    Windows 10 Pro is a free upgrade from Windows 7 & 8 non enterprise editions. See chart here docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-upgrade-paths

  26. Jul 23 2020 same issue on Dell desktop purchased 2 years ago with Win10 preinstalled. Apparently Win10 requires continuous connection to activation server else your desktop is bricked. Wonderful. Great Design. Which is why I run Linux Mint on every other PC I own.

  27. I think the reason I have the same problem is because my 119G C: disk is full and I told Windows to clean up the drive – now I have the activation problem. Is this an update problem – or are the key workers on summer vacation?

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