Last Updated on August 11, 2025 by Arnav Sharma
Microsoft’s command-line licensing tool is slmgr.vbs. The name actually stands for Windows Software Licensing Management Tool. SLMgr script allows users to query the current installation and see details about Windows 7/8 installation and its activation and licensing status.
Most of the licensing operating in Windows 8 can be done via a graphical user interface. If you’re a power user, you can access all options, flags and settings of the slmgr.vbs command script. To run the script, log on with a user account with administrator rights, and open an elevated Command Prompt window.
Options in SLMGR :
1. slmgr -dli (display the current license information)
2. slmgr -dlv (stands for display license information, similar to -dli switch but with more information)
3. slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx (enter a new or replace the current product key with the new product key supplied at xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx)
4. slmgr -xpr (shows expiration date)
5. slmgr -ato (activate Windows 8 license and product key against Microsoft’s server)
6. slmgr -skms activationservername:port (set the KMS server and the port used for KMS Activation)
7. slmgr -upk (uninstall current installed product key and return license status back to trial state)
8. slmgr -rearm (reset the licensing status and activation state of the machine)
9. slmgr -ckms (clear the name of KMS server used to default and port to default)