On others, you’ll see the number printed directly on the metal or plastic the laptop is made from. On some laptops, you’ll see the number on a sticker. If you don’t see a serial number after running the wmic command-or if you just can’t turn the PC on or don’t have access to it-there are several other places you might find the serial number: Find the Serial Number On the PC’s Hardware, Box, or Elsewhere It’ll be in a different place on different PCs, but you can usually find it somewhere on the “Main” or “System” screen. RELATED: What Does a PC's BIOS Do, and When Should I Use It?Īccess the BIOS or UEFI firmware settings screen and look around for a “Serial Number” somewhere on a system information screen. However, checking the BIOS could be helpful if you can’t actually sign into Windows to run the wmic command. This technique won’t get you a serial number if the wmic command didn’t, since the command pulls the serial number from the BIOS. You may also be able to find the serial number in the BIOS or UEFI firmware settings screen. This is also true if you built your own PC because the PC itself won’t have a serial number. However, you can look up the serial number of your motherboard and other components. RELATED: How to Check Your Motherboard Model Number on Your Windows PC In that case, you’ll see something like “0” or “To be filled by O.E.M.” instead of an actual serial number. PC manufacturers don’t always fill in the number properly. The number will only appear here if the PC manufacturer saved it to your computer’s BIOS or UEFI firmware.

If you don’t see your PC’s serial number, blame your PC’s manufacturer. This command uses the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool to pull the system’s serial number from its BIOS. You’ll see the computer’s serial number displayed beneath the text “SerialNumber”.

On Windows 7, press Windows + R, type “cmd” into the Run dialog, and then press Enter.Īt the Command Prompt, type the following command and then press Enter: wmic bios get serialnumber On Windows 10 or 8, right-click the Start button and select “Command Prompt”. Open a Command Prompt window to get started.

Dell laptop serial lookup