Try looking at these.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/activate-windows
Windows Activation Problem
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Gary Tatum
0
Reputation points
I have windows 11 pro I've had it ever sense it came out and even before with windows 10 pro it's always been activated until this morning now I have a watermark and it tells me my windows is no longer activated what gives?
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Licensing and activation
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Neil D 34,285 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator2026-09-16T13:49:59.6766667+00:00 To try and understand what may have happened can you give some details about the licence you were using.
- Did you buy the digital licence from Microsoft as a full Pro licence or an upgrade from Home edition.
- Was the licence part of the free upgrade from Windows 10 and was that a free upgrade from Windows 7/8.
- Was the licence provided by the system builder or manufacturer.
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G B 0 Reputation points2026-09-16T14:04:20.5033333+00:00 I have the same issue but I bought the digital licence from Microsoft as a full Pro licence as an upgrade from Home edition.
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Neil D 34,285 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-09-16T14:14:05.37+00:00 So it must have been purchased from Microsoft. Does it show in the purchase history of the account you are using to sign-in to windows?
Although you do not mention if you changed hardware recently, use the Activation Troubleshooter and select I changed hardware to see if a device is shown to transfer the licence from to the current install.
If that does not work then the only way will be to contact Microsoft support directly, they are the only people who can help. Use the Get Help app in windows and search the phrase billing then select Contact Support at the bottom of the window. There will be a couple more filters to select the you should see chat with an agent in your browser as an option.
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Neil D 34,285 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-09-16T14:16:14.37+00:00 @G B if it was the Home to Pro upgrade then it is not a full Pro licence and always requires an activated Home licence first to upgrade from.
Again the Get Help app is the only option if the activation troubleshooter does not work.
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G B 0 Reputation points
2026-09-16T14:17:24.4666667+00:00 Windows cam preinstalled on an Acer Nitro 5, but I upgraded to Windows 11 pro in 2023. I can see the purchase in the records in Microsoft store but no key there
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